Kazekage's Right Hand
by Maevis Pas
Summary: Naruto is banished after retuning to the village with Sasuke. After a year has passed, no one has seen Naruto. The chunin exams have returned which brings the Sand Siblings, led by Gaara, and a mysterious new teammate. Naruto/Hinata/Temari. OOC
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Naruto successfully returned to Konoha with Sasuke. Upon his return, he is banished for "attacking a defenseless Sasuke in hopes of removing the Uchiha Clan, once and for all." Naruto, heart broken to leave the place and people that he loves, seeks understanding from this and ventures off into the forest of Konoha. One year later, the Chunin Exams are being hosted by Konoha once more.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe. If I did, I wouldn't need to write fan fiction for it.**

**Chapter 1**

**One Year Ago**

Naruto had successfully returned to Konoha with Sasuke. True, they were both knocked out and Naruto's clothes had been hanging by a thread, but they were both home. Tsunade quickly checked the young boy and, finding nothing really wrong with him, gave him a room at the hospital till he woke up.

During that time, Tsunade was surprised to see that she was not the only one keeping a silent vigil over the boy she considered like her younger brother, if not her own son. Every time she went to check on the boy, no matter how late or early, a young lady sat at his bedside, holding his hand in her own.

Tsunade wanted to tell Hinata to return home several times, but the look of pain in the girl's eyes made her refrain. Instead, she had posted Anko outside the door to the kid's room with explicit instructions that he be left alone by everyone not her or Hinata and that she be notified immediately should he awaken.

It took three days. Three days of wondering if he would ever open his eyes again.

On the fourth day, she had finally finished with checking on the remaining members of the Sasuke Retrieval Team. They would all live. She had just begun researching if there was a way to wake someone up from a coma without serious risk when a nurse knocked on her office at the hospital. Tsunade looked up to see Shizune's smiling face. "Naruto is awake."

Tsunade quickly rushed to the boy's room. Anko gave her a nod before smiling and walking back the way the Hokage had come from. Opening the door, she saw that Naruto and Hinata were smiling and laughing with each other, but Hinata still held his hand in her own and looked like she would never let go.

"I see your awake, gaki." She said with a smile.

"It will take more then that to stop me from getting my dreams, baa-chan." Naruto replied with a smile. That smile quickly faded away. "Sasuke?"

Tsunade smiled at him. "Awake and really pissed off at being stopped. He's being held for observation. You will be happy to know that the remainder of your team, Neji, Choji, Shikamaru and even Kiba will all be fine. Lee as well."

Naruto smiled largely before reaching over and hugging Hinata lightly. It looked as if the two of them had come to some sort of relationship since she blushed heavily but didn't look uncomfortable. "That is really good to hear."

There was a knock at the door. "Tsunade-sama?" Shizune's voice asked. "The council is requesting both yourself and Naruto's presence"

"Probably want to find out what happened." Tsunade told him with a sigh. First thing she would do next was to dissolve the council, at least the civilian half of it anyways. "Get dressed, Naruto."

What followed was the worse four hours of Tsunade's life.

It began on their way out of the hospital. They had to walk by Sasuke's room in order to get out of the hospital and, as they did, a pink haired flash came at them before slapping Naruto hard. "YOU!" Sakura screamed at him. "Look what you did! You put Sasuke-kun in the hospital!"

Naruto was rubbing his cheek. "Hey, I told you I would bring him back."

"Yes, but you failed to mention that you would try to kill him!" The banshee countered. "You put a Rasengan right into his chest!"

"And he put a Chidori in mine!"

"Whatever, get away from me, demon!" She spat before opening the door and slamming it in Naruto's face.

The pair remained silent as they left the hospital. Naruto because he didn't know what to say and Tsunade because she didn't want to bring up what had just happened. Instead, they just walked to the Hokage Tower and the Council Chambers.

Even as she and Naruto walked in together, she could tell this was not going to end well. The civilian's were shouting for his head the second they saw the "demon-brat." "Enough!" She shouted. "Explain why I, the HOKAGE, was SUMMONED by this council."

She wasn't surprised when it was Danzo who answered for her. "We are here to consider the counts of treason and attempted murder of Naruto Uzumaki." He said quietly.

Tsunade was so shocked that she remained silent. "What?" Naruto asked quietly.

"The demon has no right to speak in these chambers!" Saki Haruno shouted.

"Haruno, shut up." Shikaku Nara told her. "He can ask questions as much as you can. Especially since I see this as nothing more then a farce." The other shinobi clan heads nodded their agreement, but with Danzo speaking for the Uchiha clan and with the civilians all on his side, they were outnumbered.

"I didn't try to murder anyone. I was fighting Sasuke to get him to come home." Naruto pleeded to the council.

"Likely excuse, demon. How, if I might ask, was fighting him supposed to get him to come home?" Naruto remained silent at that. He didn't want to make things worse then they already are.

"Naruto, you are guilty of attempting to murder Sasuke Uchiha. Such an act is considered genocide since he is the last member of his clan. As such, you are deemed a traitor to the leaf. I call for a vote to decide the boy's fate." Danzo said with a sneer.

The vote had been quick. Naruto's punishment was to be banished from Konoha.

"Honorable Hokage, I ask that ANBU escort this…thing, to the country's borders right away."

Tsunade gave the council member a death glare before returning her gaze to Naruto. "Naruto Uzumaki. It is with great regret that I denounce your status as a member of Konoha. Tomorrow, you will be escorted by members of our village to the border and, should you ever return, you will be killed on sight." She said with tears falling freely. "I am so so sorry." She said softly.

Naruto's knees gave way as the council roared in rage. "TOMORROW! He is banished, that means right away!"

"He has just woken from a three day coma. As such, as his doctor, I can not let him leave until I complete my observations. Naruto, come with me." She said as she swept from the room, leading the young genin to the doors. The ninja council looked at each other and, as one, followed their Hokage out.

_Yes,_ Danzo told himself._ By banishing you, I will make you mine, Naruto. I will turn you into the perfect weapon._

Tsunade led the, now , former genin to her office before bursting into tears and hugging him tightly. "I never wanted this, Naruto. You don't deserve this."

Naruto nodded. "I know. I guess this means I will never find my dreams." He said softly.

"You might never be Hokage, but I know a vast number of ninja who are going to be upset to see you leave." Jiraiya's voice came from the open window. "Besides, since you have nothing to lose now, I say we finally tell him." He told Tsunade.

She nodded her approval. "I think your right. Naruto, I think we should tell you about your parents." She told him as they gave him his birthright. The large scroll of his father's jutsu.

* * *

><p><em>The next day<em>

There were few at the gate to wish Naruto goodbye. Amazingly, the entire Rookie Nine, minus Team 7, and Team Gai were there to see him off. The wounded members refused to stay in bed when their friend was leaving. Shikamaru leaned heavily on Shino, trying to support his weight as best as he could. Choji, looking much thinner now then any time before, was supported by Ino. Neji was banged up but he stood between his teammates with Lee crying freely to see their friend leave like this. Kiba wasn't crying or smiling but he didn't want to see Naruto banished. Hinata…

She was crying her eyes out. Tsunade couldn't blame her. The girl had a giant crush on the boy and finally got her wish to start something with him but, before that relationship could ever even start, it had been crushed by the foolish council.

Naruto tried to smile weakly but, at seeing neither his team or his sensei, the fake smile vanished. Iruka was there, looking crushed, but Kakashi was not. Hell, even the other sensei were there and all of them showed remorse for the young boy.

"Iruka-sensei." Naruto said softly. "I have to give this back to you. I'm sorry I couldn't hold up my end of the deal." He told him.

Iruka tried to smile but it hurt too much to even try. "Keep it, Naruto. You will always be a Leaf Shinobi in my head. You are, truly, a great ninja. I am proud to call you my student."

He hugged everyone goodbye, Hinata twice, before turning to Tsunade. "Say the word, gaki, and I'll be coming with you." She told him.

He shook his head. "I can't do that. This village needs you. I need you here where you can do the most good." He told her before hugging her. "Keep them safe. Especially Hinata. I'm afraid where this is going."

He broke the hug before looking down. Slowly, he removed the cursed necklace from around his head. "Here, I can't take this with me." He told her as he handed it back to it's original owner.

Tsunade shook her head. "It's your's now, Naruto. I can not take it back from you." She stood straight at that before nodding to the ANBU at the gate. "These nice men will escort you out, Naruto." She said in her official voice.

The laugh that came from Naruto surprised everyone. "Why? I'm not actually here." He said with another laugh before turning into a puff of smoke.

Tsunade, and everyone else, couldn't help but start to laugh. Naruto, the worst ninja of his graduating class, had just pulled one over on the council by making sure he couldn't be assassinated at the border. As the laughter faded, however, their despair at losing perhaps the greatest potential since Minato Namikaze was too great for all those assembled.

* * *

><p><strong>Present Day<strong>

Tsunade slammed her fist into the desk once more. It had been one year since she had lost all hope in her job. One year since she lost the last member of her family. Rummaging through her desk drawers, she pulled out a full bottle of sake and starts to find comfort as her mind returns to that awful week.

That had been more then a year ago now. Since then, everything had gone to hell. The first thing that happened was the cut off in trade from the Land of Wind. Shortly after, they received word from Suna that their alliance with Konoha was now void. Especially since the brand new Kazekage was personal friends with the now banished Naruto.

Gaara delivered the news personally by walking into the council chambers and releasing his killer intent on all who were assembled. The only one still standing after the mental attack was Tsunade and the ninja council since it had been aimed away from them.

The Land of Waves soon followed suit. Their excuse being that if they treated the hero of their nation like that, they would treat the nation with equal disdain. Having lost two of their major trade partners, the Fire Daimyo wanted answers. Tsunade gave them without fear since she was not the one who was responsible.

After finding out everything, including that Naruto was the jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox and that his old friends, Minato and Kushina, were the boys parents, he lost it. He immediately cut the village's funding and told them they were lucky he didn't start giving his missions to Suna.

All of this, however, was minor in comparison to Sasuke Uchiha.

The boy had grown so arrogant that he took his seat on the council next to Danzo. Somehow, he had expressed the need to rebuild his clan so much that the council allowed him to take as many wives as he wanted from any where. He immediately wanted Hinata Hyuga but her father told him that, should he try, the entire Hyuga family, main and branch, would leave Konoha. Sauske gave up on that for the moment but, every so often, the subject came back up with the same reaction.

Sakura Haruno became his first wife three months after Naruto's banishment and subsequent disappearance. She had been so happy to have Sasuke as her husband that she, actually, passed out upon hearing the news. However, the Uchiha didn't stop there. He, somehow, convinced Ino Yamanaka to marry him in two weeks after making chunin. With the upcoming exams, and the council in his pocket, that looked like a sure thing for the fifteen year olds. The only thing stopping him would to be defeated in the chunin exams before the finals. Tsunade could only think of two people who could do that, and one of them was the Kazekage.

A knock on her door brought her head up. "Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked as he stepped in. He disappeared not long after Naruto's banishment, intent on finding the boy and making him his apprentice, but he never found him. The toads had been no help because they liked the boy. Somehow, he had broken the summoning contract, leaving Gamabunta very angry at loosing the son of Minato.

"Hey, Jiraiya." She said to him, depressed.

"Suna's representatives for the chunin exams just came through the gate." He told her.

Tsunade just shrugged. "Why would I care?"

Jiraiya gave her a warning look. "It's the siblings." He told her. "Gaara is their leader, I guess, but they also have a fourth member. Don't know much but he's hidden in a cloak and hood. I can tell, he's dangerous."

Tsunade shrugged. "Well, I guess we will have to worry about people ending up dead again this time. Temari and Kankuro have no love for the village, Garra even less."

Jiraiya nodded his agreement. "What can we do?"

Tsunade gave a grin as she raised the sake bottle on her desk.

* * *

><p><em>Konoha<em>

"Remember, we are doing this for a reason." Temari told her brother.

Kankuro just nodded. "I know. Fight hard, beat up Team 7, leave the rest relatively unharmed. Do you think they found someone to fill in?"

Gaara nodded. "Trust me, Team 7 has been increased to full strength. They will make it in to the exams. This village wants their precious Uchiha to become a chunin as much as I want his head." He turned to their fourth member of this team. "Are you sure about this?"

The last member nodded from inside his hood. "I will kill him." The voice menaced.

Gaara nodded. "Very well. Our objective is to get into at least the final round. Mission objective is to get Sasuke Uchiha."

All three members of the Sand Sibling's Team nodded. The fourth member started walking away. Gaara quickly stopped him. "No, we must wait. If you do it now, they will just kill you."

The hooded man nodded his head. "I apologize, Kazekage-sama. I let my emotions get the better of me."

"I know. Don't worry. Your one of us now. I have no doubt in my mind that you will be the one to come out on top. Especially with your new techniques."

The hooded man nodded again. "Temari, can you deliver these for me?" He asked as he handed her a pair of scrolls.

"Why her?" Kankuro asked.

Gaara shook his head. "Two reasons, first is that Temari won't kill anyone on complete accident while walking through the streets."

"I said I was sorry." Kankuro told his brother.

"Second, because she is a woman." The hooded man said as he and the Kazekage walked away towards their hotel. Kankuro followed not far behind as Temari left on her new mission.

* * *

><p>Hinata Hyuga was deep in depression. Even after a year, nothing could cheer her up. She spent her time walking around the town, not really watching where she was going. Kiba had tried for weeks to cheer her up and nothing worked. He even attempted to henge into Naruto but that had ended up with him getting punched in the face by the depressed Hyuga.<p>

Shino and Kurenai had tried to talk to her but nothing worked. Her own father had dropped the mask of hatred that he had on for most of her life and that still did nothing for the poor girl. The only one who could get her to talk had been Tsunade. That had just turned out information on why she was depressed.

That reason was Naruto.

She wasn't watching where she was going, like she had begun doing since he left, and thus walked right into someone. "S-s-sor-ry." She stuttered.

"It's okay." A familiar voice told her. Looking up, she found out that the voice belonged to Temari of the Sand. "Hinata Hyuga? Correct?" She asked.

The dark haired girl nodded, not trusting her voice. "I have something for you." She told her. She removed a small scroll from her belt and handed it to the blushing Hyuga. "Don't worry, nothing will harm you. Especially in the exams. I promise you."

"Wh-what is t-th-this?" She asked

"A letter." She told her as she started to walk away. "From a friend."

Hinata looked at the scroll before slowly unrolling it.

_Hinata Hyuga,_

_I know we have never really been on the best of terms but I have some news for you._

_I know you have been depressed and hurting. I know this because of what Naruto told me about you. However, I need you to do something for me. I need you to be strong. Naruto is safe and healthy. I just talked to him before writing this for you. He asked me to relay you a message._

"_I will be there for you."_

_Now, I'm here in town for the chunin exams. I am the jounin for the team that I had previously been a member of. If you would like to talk, I have left instructions with the front desk of the main hotel that you are a welcome guest._

_I hope you would see fit to take the time to visit. I have much to tell you._

_Gaara  
><em>

Hinata quickly left towards the hotel, rushing to meet the Kazekage.

* * *

><p>Another knock broke the drinking party of Jiraya and Tsunade. "Yeah?" The Hokage answered.<p>

Shizune stuck her head in. "Lady Tsunade, I have a scroll for you from the Kazekage."

Tsunade stood and took the scroll from her assistant before opening it.

_Lady Hokage,_

_I apologize for cutting off all ties between our villages. I know you understand why I did it but I think I should explain several things first._

_I couldn't believes that your council would throw out their greatest weapon. The power that Naruto has was something that no one can really understand who doesn't have the same power. He helped me understand it so, in turn, I helped him harness his._

_That's right. I have meet with Naruto. For reasons I can not say, I will not say where he is. I want to make sure he is as safe as you do. After all, he is my friend. What I can tell you is this, he is healthy, safe and secure._

_I am staying in your village, as I am sure your spies have told you. I am the leader of my siblings' team. If you want to talk, I would love to talk with you about anything other then politics, since we are no longer allies. Maybe you could talk with a member of my team. He has been having some trouble this past year._

_Gaara  
><em>

Tsunade sobered up fast as she read the letter before handing it over to Jiraiya to read. He, as well, sobered up as he read. "I guess we go see the Kazekage." He told her as they left together.

* * *

><p><em>Gaara's Hotel Room<em>

Gaara sat with his back to the wall. Temari had just returned from her mission and sat by the door, cleaning her fan. His brother sat on the other side of the door to the room while his fourth member stood just inside the outside balcony, looking out on Konoha. "I can't believe that we are standing here, looking at Konoha." He said softly.

Gaara nodded. "I know. I never really expected to return here ever again. Especially after my last visit here." He said as he stood next to his teammate.

There was a knock at the door. "Gaara? I have the Hokage, Jiraiya, and Hinata Hyuga out here." Kankuro said as he stuck his head in.

Gaara nodded to Temari and she got up to join her brother. "Give us a few moments and then show them in." He said as the door closed. He turned back to the last member of the team. "Are you sure about this? Revealing all this information before the exams?"

The man shrugged and shook his head as he raised his hood up and covered his face. "No, but these three are the ones who deserve to know. After all, they are the three closest…"

He shut up as the door opened to allow in Temari. She led the small group in and was followed by the Hokage, Jiraiya and Hinata before Kankuro came in behind the Konoha ninja. He closed the door and performed several privacy jutsu. "Gaara," Jiraiya began. "I hope it was okay that I came along."

The Kazekage nodded. "Perfectly fine with me, Jiraya-sama. I assume you are all here to learn of our dear friend."

"It's okay." Kankuro told them all. "My privacy jutsu are foolproof."

Gaara nodded. "Okay. Naruto." He said with a smile.

They all nodded. "You have seen him?"

"Seen him, talked to him, shared a meal together, fought. You would think the two of them were brothers with the way they act around each other." Temari said with a grin. "He says hi, by the way."

Tsunade smiled. "I'm just glad he is okay."

"Before we get started on the back and forth questions, I have a real important one that I would like answered." Jiraiya told them all. "You said you helped him 'harness' the Kyubi?"

Gaara nodded. "As a jinchuriki, I deemed it my job to teach him to control the beast within…not that he needed my help. Apparently, you should be thanking your luck that Naruto was the one in control when he was banished."

"How so?' Tsunade asked.

Gaara gave an evil smile. "He told me he almost took the seal off." The three Konoha ninja gasped. "Not to worry, though. He made a decision, one that I would have made differently, but none the less, he's in control from now on."

Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at each other while Hinata looked confused. "I thought he loved Konoha. Why would he almost let loose?"

"Key word there is 'loved.'" Temari said with a smirk. "Not to sound cruel, Hinata, but what was really stopping him? I know, but I wonder if you do."

Hinata thought about it before a blush creped into her face. "It was me, wasn't it?" Temari nodded and Hinata let out a deep sigh. Her boyfriend had refrained from destroying the whole village because of her. "Naruto-kun…" She said with sadness.

Tsunade saw the fourth Suna ninja, the one who stood facing away from them all, flinch at the name. "Anyways, how come he didn't need your help with the Kyubi?"

Gaara grinned. "Why, he made a deal with the demon himself."

"WHAT?" Tsunade and Jiraiya shouted out loud. "A deal? What deal?" They said together again.

"He made a deal to gain access to the Kyubi's chakra and power for revenge on the Uchiha Clan."

Tsunade nodded. "But what does the Kyubi get out of it?"

"Revenge on the Uchiha Clan, like I said." Gaara told her. "Look, all I know is, the day he was born and his mother lost the Kyubi, the Kyubi was not acting on it's own against Konoha. It was being controlled by an Uchiha."

Jiraiya frowned in concentration. "It all makes sense, now." He said.

"What does?" Hinata asked.

"The Yondiame, the last thing he said to me was a name. Madara Uchiha. I didn't get it but now I do. Madara is, or at that time was, still alive and in control of the Nine Tails."

Tsunade and Gaara nodded. "Anyways, Naruto made a deal. He got the increase in power while he swore he would kill Madara, Itachi and Sasuke to rid the world of the Uchiha."

Tsunade smiled. "Is it sad that I wouldn't care less for him if he did?"

Everyone shared a laugh. "Still, I must apologize to you, Lady Tsunade. This isn't an apology from the Kazekage to the Hokage. It's me to you. I didn't want to cut off all our relations. However, I needed to make a point."

She smiled a soft smile. "I know, Gaara. If Naruto was Hokage and you had been banished from Suna, he would have done the same thing."

The hooded figure moved again, causing Tsunade's eyes to watch once more. "Still, I can't believe what this village did to him. Especially after I learned that his fa…"

"Gaara!" Tsunade cut him off. "That is an S-class secret."

The four Suna ninja laughed lightly. "We all know. The only one in this room who doesn't know is Hinata and, if anyone should, it should be here. Especially with how the brat feels about her." Kankuro told her.

"I should know what?" Hinata asked.

"Oh all right." Tsunade said. "Remember, this is an S-class secret. It's about Naruto's family. See, Hinata, Naruto is actually named after his mother's clan. The Uzumaki are originally from the Land of Whirlpools before it fell. He couldn't take his father's last name because his father was a great ninja with many enemies."

Jiraiya nodded. "I trained his father, just like I wanted to train his son. He was something else. A man of many names. Feared by all ninja across the land, loved by us here in Konoha. To his enemies, he is known as the Yellow Flash. To us, here, we know him as the Yondiame Hokage, Minato Namikaze."

It took several seconds before Hinata did something she swore she would never do again. She fainted.

Everyone shared a laugh. "Okay, I should probably get out of here before the council decides we are planning something. Two questions before I go. First, what are you all doing here? Surely there was some other jonin that could have led the team instead of you Gaara."

He nodded. "There were several, my former mentor Baki being one. However, I feel like this mission deserves a more…personal touch."

"Mission?" Jiraiya asked as Hinata started to wake back up.

Temari took care of answering him. "Our mission might look to be participate in the exam but we have an underlying mission. Destroy Sasuke Uchiha."

Tsunade nodded her head. She held no love for the fallen prince of a dead clan. "Understandable, but how do you expect to do that?"

"Pain," Kankuro told her. "Lots and lots of pain."

"Sauske is just our primary objective. Secondary targets are Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno, the Konoha Elders and, of course, Danzo. Oh, and whomever replaced Naruto on Team 7." Temari explained further.

Tsunade looked shocked. "That's a tall order."

The three siblings shrugged. "Well, we have our individual assignments. During the exams, Kankuro is supposed to go after the replacement. I get to hurt the pink banshee and our friend here actually volunteered to go after Sasuke." She said as she placed a hand on the fourth member of the team.

"That brings me to the second question. I don't like being left in the dark. Just who the hell are you?" She said with a point at the hidden man.

"Before we get to that, I have a proposition for you, Hokage." Gaara said simply.

Tsunade raised a brow. "I don't know if I like where this is going."

Gaara raised a hand. "Nothing bad, I promise. I would like to attempt to reestablish friendly ties to Konoha. I have a way we can do this but I am afraid of your response."

Tsunade looked at Jiraiya. "I promise to listen and not lash out if that is what you are afraid of, Gaara."

Gaara nodded. "That is all that I can ask. I would like to arrange a marriage between our villages. One clan member, a male, from my side and a female from your own."

Tsunade nodded. It seemed like a reasonable offer. "Do you have someone in mind for either?"

Gaara looked over at the hidden man once more and received a nod from him. "Yes, I would like to marry of my teammate, Dachi, with Hinata Hyuga."

Tsunade looked at the cloaked man. "I will have to see him before giving the final approval but…Hinata?"

She played with her fingers. "I…I-I lov-e Naruto-kun."

Gaara smiled. "I thought you would say that." He looked at the last member of the team. "Go on. It was your plan." He said simply.

The ninja turned away before removing a thick scarf from around his face. It dropped to the ground with a heavy thud and Tsunade and Hinata's sharp eyes caught the sight of a Konoha forehead protector on the middle of the scarf.

The man then removed his hood to reveal his hair. It was blonde and spiked up in a fashionable appearance…looking very familiar to the three Konoha ninja. He took a few moments before turning and showing his face. As soon as they saw who it was, Tsunade was shocked, Jiraiya had a silly grin on his face and Hinata fainted once more.

His bright blue eyes flashed with the smile on his face. The whisker marks were more pronounced then before but they were all used to seeing them that it would be weird to see less of them. The final touch was the headband, black with the Suna symbol on his forehead.

"Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am the jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Kyubi." He said with his familiar voice. "My name…is Naruto Namikaze." Naruto told them, the smile on his face never leaving or faltering for even a second.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, what do you all think? This is my attempt at a Naruto Banished story but I think I like where it is going. I don't expect this to be very long. I have a rough idea of the story but, as both the title and story show, it will focus on Naruto and Gaara. Hinata too. Can't forget my favorite couple in the series. Might through some Shika/Temari in for good measure but...*shrug*  
><strong>

**I almost feel bad for Team 7 in this one. Almost being the key word in that sentence. Then I remember what I am doing.**

**Read, review and enjoy.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe. If I did, I wouldn't need to write fan fiction for it.**

**A/N: A review I got actually made sense so I thought I would share what was asked and my response for said review. Cmcwiki said that, due to the story, a Naruto/Temari pairing would work out best and, since I decided to keep with the Naruto/Hinata, that a three way marriage contract would work out as well.**

**My response is…you are completely right. That being said, disavow all knowledge of the idea behind the Shika/Temari pairing.**

**Chapter 2**

The silence in the room was almost laughable. He could tell the legendary sannin were completely caught off guard. Jiraiya seemed to be trying to keep from breaking down and laughing while Tsunade was so shocked that she couldn't even hit him. "Naruto?"

He nodded. "It's me. I'm surprised at you, pervy sage. I would have thought you and your spy ring would have at least figure it out. I mean, where else would I go?"

Jiraiya actually laughed as he stood and embraced his former student. "Naruto." was all that he said. The two stood for a moment before Jiraiya broke the hug. "Your right. I should have figured it out. I was so careless. I didn't even think to look in Suna."

He smiled at him before both turned and Naruto embraced Tsunade. "Baa-chan." Naruto sighed.

Tsunade snapped out of it and returned the hug, tears filling her eyes. "Don't call me that, gaki." She said simply, laughing lightly.

Naruto laughed lightly as he broke the hug. "I'm sorry for using that shadow clone to say goodbye."

Tsunade laughed harder. "Don't be. When Danzo found out you slipped through his fingers like that, worth it. Now, wake up Hinata."

Naruto nodded his head as he sat next to the slowly waking Hyuga heiress. "Hinata-hime." He said with a smile.

Hinata stirred before opening her eyes slightly. "Nar-u-to-kun?" She asked. Her eyes shot open. "NARUTO!" She shouted as she jumped into his open arms. The young couple shared a brief moment together in silence as they both were overjoyed at having the other in their arms. Hinata broke the hug first before looking at Tsunade. "Honorable Hokage, my answer is yes. A thousand times, yes!"

Everyone shared a laugh while Temari gave a slight one and looked uncomfortable. _How am I supposed to beat her? _She thought.

"Well, Kazekage, I guess that is your answer. Why don't the four of you swing by the council chambers tomorrow for our meeting and we will announce it then." She looked at Naruto. "Are you going to remain hidden throughout the exams?"

He nodded. "Until I get my hands on Sasuke, yeah."

Hinata looked at him. "Namikaze? Your father's name?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, Naruto Uzumaki is wanted in the Land of Fire. Had to change the name and why not use my dad's? By the way, who ever did replace me?"

"No one." Jiraiya told him. "Team 7 has been functioning as a three man cell since you left. For the exam, however, Ino is joining them and Choji is being sat out. He was not happy about it but the council made that decision."

Hinata nodded. "I am very happy you are here, Naruto-kun. Sasuke was getting ready to force me into a marriage."

A deep growl came from Naruto, scaring the sannin but the siblings and Hinata didn't even feel it. "Tsunade…" He said with menace. "What did I ask you to do?"

She shook her head. "I have been. He has been trying since you left. I was able to warn Hiashi and he's been pushing back with the help of the ninja council. However, if Sasuke gets Ino as his wife, he will have two-thirds majority in the council and can get whatever he wants. All I have left are the Hyuga, Aburme, Inuzuka, Nara, and Akimichi. Yamanaka has to vote with Sasuke after the wedding or he will destroy the whole clan."

Naruto's anger vanished at that. "Well then." He said. "It's a good thing she's arranged to be married now." A smile lighting up his face.

Hinata blushed deeply as the idea hit her. "Wait…that was…we are…engaged?" Naruto nodded. Hinata's squeal of delight brought smiles to everyone's faces…except Temari. She had turned and looked out the window, to hide her face from the room.

Tsunade stood. "Right, the marriage of Hinata Hyuga to Dachi from Suna will be announced at our weekly council meeting. I expect that the five of you be there. Jiraiya, are you coming with me or are you planning on bothering the kids some more."

Jiraiya stood as well. "I'll come with. I think we have a bottle of sake still to finish and I am in a celebratory mood now."

"Wait!' Hinata shot up. "What about my father? He will be so angry that I'm being forced into a marriage with a hostile nation that he might do something drastic."

Tsunade nodded. "Don't worry. I'll try to explain as best as I can. However, should he try and put that damn seal on you, you come find me, Jiraiya, or Gaara." Hinata nodded. "Good, you kids have fun and try not to get into trouble." She told them as the two left together.

Temari left shortly after, saying something about needing to get out and do something. Gaara hadn't missed the look of hurt on his sister's face as she passed by the, now, happy couple. _Great, Temari. Had to fall._ He thought. "Hinata, why don't you go home for now. We don't want anyone to start to get suspicious."

Hinata nodded her agreement before kissing Naruto for the first time. The kiss was brief but Naruto was stunned. "Your right, Kazekage-sama." She said as she stood.

"You have to maintain your depressed look. We can't have anyone, especially on the council, figure out what is going on before we can get to Sasuke."

The Hyuga nodded. Before bowing once to Gaara, hugging a still stunned Naruto and leaving.

Kankuro nodded once to Gaara. He hadn't missed the look on his sister's face either and knew that the two friends should talk this out. He got up with his puppets and left right after Hinata closed the door. Naruto took a few moments to come out of his daze before turning to Gaara. "That worked out well."

Gaara gave a genuine laugh at that. Naruto was the only one who could make him do that. "Naruto," He said with a warning in his voice. "It appears that I am at an impasse."

"How so?' The blonde asked.

Gaara looked at him. "Have you noticed anything strange about Temari lately?"

Naruto gave a slight nod. "She's a lot friendlier then when I first showed up in Suna, she smiles a lot at me, blushes sometimes…ah crap." He said as he figured it out and held up his hands to Gaara. "I didn't do anything, honest! I would never betray you like that."

Gaara fixed him with a green eyed stare before letting out a deep sigh. "No, Naruto. I'm worried because, well, Temari has never really looked at men before. She had that weird crush on your friend…Shika something?"

Naruto nodded. "Shikamaru."

"That's him. Anyways, she had that crush but I think she figured out who she wants to be with, and I think it's you."

"What are we going to do? I like Temari, I think of her like a sister…actually, maybe it is more. I have been paying more attention to her and she is cute. Especially when she blushes. Just like Hinata." Naruto said slowly. "What should I do?"

Gaara shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Matsuri and Sari both have crushes on me and I am in the same position as you. I was thinking about marrying both of them."

Naruto's head shot up. "You can have multiple wives?" Gaara nodded. "You or Suna?"

"Suna, why?"

"It's just that, here in Konoha, only under special circumstances can you have multiple wives."

Gaara laughed a little. "Yes, but Konoha is more prosperous…or they were before you left, and the birth rate between male to female is normal. In Suna, we have an influx of women to men. About three to one. That, combined with how bad our village is financially and my father set up that law. One that I have yet to abolish."

Naruto thought about it. "What happens if you give too much attention to one wife over the other?"

Gaara shrugged. "They get jealous? How should I know." A light went off in the Kazekage's head. "What about the three of you?"

Naruto looked at him confused. "What? Me, Hinata and Temari? I don't know if that is such a good idea. I just got my hime back. I don't want to lose her again. It hurt too much the first time. I also don't want to hurt Temari because she is special to me too."

"Just…let me talk to her. Find out if this is genuine or not." Gaara tried to explain. "If it is, maybe the three of you should sit down and talk about it."

Naruto nodded before slamming his head against the table. It had been such a good day too.

* * *

><p><em>Next Day, Konoha Council Chambers<em>

Naruto had wrapped up his face once again. It felt nice knowing he was about to walk in to announce his marriage to Hinata, even if he was using his under cover name. Gaara looked over at his team and saw the looks of determination in their eyes. "Right, we can either enter now and brood or wait for the perfect moment."

"Brood." Kankuro said. "I like brooding. It's fun to creep out people like that."

"Yes, but at least four of our targets are inside. I say we make an entrance. Dachi agrees with me." Temari said with a wink at Naruto.

Naruto was happy his face was covered to hide his blush. He just nodded once to show that she was correct. So, together, they waited until they heard the right time to act.

"Now on to new business." Tsunade said, bored out of her mind as she lifted a scroll. "I have a letter from the Kazekage."

"What does that demon want?" A voice called out.

Gaara looked around at the team and they all shared the same grin. If that wasn't a perfect open invitation, nothing was. They all released their killing intent as Gaara slammed the doors to the chamber open and walked in.

Tsunade was impressed with the display and it showed. She had to raise a hand to her mouth to cover the smile on her face. The remaining members of the council shrunk away with fear. Even the ninja council had felt it and they all looked very uneasy.

Gaara purposely stopped in the center of the chamber and crossed his arms as his team fell in behind him. They were spread out with Kankuro to his left, Temari to his right and Naruto/Dachi with his back to Gaara to watch behind them. Their teamwork together had them very comfortable with each other . "I'm waiting." Gaara growled.

Tsunade nodded. "I was just about to inform the council of the request." She said as she unrolled the scroll. "The Land of Wind is offering to establish relations again."

"That's good news. Maybe the Land of Waves will follow and we can get our trade back." Saki Haruno

told the council.

"They make a request, though, to cement their relations. They want a union between the two villages." She raised her eyes and closed the scroll. "They want to arrange a marriage."

Gaara nodded as the council debated amongst themselves. Naruto's eyes caught sight of Sasuke and Danzo talking to each other. Before he knew what he was doing, he released another wave of killing intent that dwarfed the last one. The room fell into very dead silence.

Temari reached over and grabbed his wrist to calm him down. She had also caught sight of the two targets sitting together but she also had the Hyuga clan in her sight and Hinata's eyes would not leave the man she had fallen in love with.

"I request a marriage between a female of one of your clans for my student, Dachi." Gaara explained as he waved a hand at Naruto's back. "He comes from a long line of ninja in Suna and one day might replace myself as Kazekage."

Naruto felt the hard stares into his back. "Why does he hide his face?" A council member asked. "Is he hideous or something?"

Gaara gave off a wicked smile as Temari tapped Naruto. He released another wave of killing intent making everyone shiver. "No, the only people who see his face outside of Suna are the ones that he has vowed to kill."

The demonstration was enough to call for a vote. Surprisingly, every single member of the council and ninja council voted for the union.

Tsunade nodded. "Do you have someone in mind or is it up to the council to decide."

Gaara nodded once more. "We would like to ask Hinata Hyuga."

"NO!" A voice called out. Naruto was surprised to see that it wasn't the man he expected to cry out in anger at hearing that. He expected Haiahi, Hinata's father, to denounce the idea. However, it was actually Danzo who said it. "The Huyga clan is too important to give one of their members to Suna."

Tsunade looked at Hiashi and the pair exchanged looks, remembering their conversation the day before.

* * *

><p><em>Previous Day<em>

"Thank you for coming so soon, Hiashi. I apologize for the short notice."

Hiashi nodded. "I assumed that it was important and urgent since you had Jiraiya-sama as a messenger with nothing written down, that this was urgent. Now, how may I help, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade motioned for him to take a seat. "As I know you are aware, the Uchiha Clan has expressed a vast amount of interest in your daughter."

"I would rather turn my entire clan over to Orochimaru then let my daughter marry the Uchiha."

Tsunade nodded. "However, the village elders have brought this to my attention." She told him as she handed him a sheet of paper. Hiashi picked up and began to read. "To put it simply, the Clan Re Population Clause has a portion where it allows Sasuke to choose anyone of age and they have to accept."

Hiashi quickly read the law before putting it back on the Hokage's desk. "And Hinata's sixteenth birthday is in December. Is there a way around this?"

The smile on Tsunade's face was almost larger then her entire head. "Yes, he can not take a wife who is older or younger by more then five years unless he is middle aged, he can not take a wife who is already married and he can not take a wife who is already betrothed to someone else. Also, never from another village."

"I'm assuming you know something."

"Two things. The first is that I had a very interesting conversation with the Kazekage earlier." Hiashi's brow raised. "He is wanting to establish relations with Konoha again."

Hiashi nodded. "That is good but what does that have to do with Hinata?"

"That's the second thing. In return, he wants to set up an arranged marriage between our villages. Before you ask, I've met the young man. Very nice and strong, but there is something about him that I just can't out my…finger…on who."

Hiashi was many things. Clan leader, honorable, devoted father, widower. None of those things were stupid. He had learned the art of innuendo. He picked up the hint Tsunade dropped and noticed her finger pointing at a picture on her desk. He looked at the picture and saw who was inside. It was of Tsunade just before she returned to Konoha. With her were Jiraiya, her assistant Shizune and Naruto. _Naruto!_ He raised a brow and received a very subtle nod. _Naruto is alive! Not only is he alive but he now is in Suna and trying to set up a marriage to Hinata without giving away that it is him._ "Does my daughter know about this possible arrangement?"

Tsunade nodded. "She was there when it was made. Met the man and everything. She has expressed great interest in the idea but was worried about your reaction."

Again, Hiashi picked up on the hidden language. _Hinata knows that it's Naruto. They all wanted to make sure I knew who the boy really was before they sprung the idea on me. I have to hand it to all the parties involved, this is very well thought out._ "I see. Well, if Hinata has no objections to the marriage then I will allow it if it will keep her safe from the Uchiha. However, we have a slight problem. The clan elders will not allow her to leave this village without the Caged Bird Seal. To tell the truth, I have to agree with them…for her safety."

Tsunade was an expert with innuendo. _The elders will kill her before letting her leave without the seal. Naruto is going to be pissed._ "I understand. That is most unfortunate. However, it is a clan decision and I can not interfere. I will let the Suna representatives know."

Hiashi held up a hand. "Let them know that it will be the modified seal."

Tsunade looked surprised. "Modified?"

Hiashi nodded. "Ever since the chunin exams last year where Naruto fought Neji, I have been working on a Caged Bird Seal that has the effects of the normal one without the main branch being able to inflict pain on the sealed. The seal locks down the Byakugan upon the death of the sealed but it also, somehow, makes it so that the sealed can not pass on their Byakugan to future generations."

Tsunade nodded. "How come I have never heard of this?"

Hiashi bowed his head. "Because we have yet to try the seal out. Like I pointed out, it would remove the branch house from the Hyuga Clan itself and that is something that I can not do. I have become almost obsessed about these damn seals as my daughter. I want to unify our clan once more and, in order to do that, I need to figure out how to make this seal work."

"How do you know it will remove the Byakugan from the children if you haven't tried it yet?"

Haishi smiled. "I can see it. Minato did teach me some things about seals before he passed away and I have a copy of one of his scrolls all about sealing." Hiashi remained quiet for a brief moment in time as he thought about it. "I have to think about this but, so far, it would be the best way for this to turn out. The elders get their seal and I make it so that she can not be punished." _Hinata might not be able to give birth to Hyuga children but she will, instead, be the mother of Naruto's._

Tsunade nodded her approval as well. "Very well. I will leave it to you. I will inform the Suna." She smiled again. "Any questions for me on your end?"

"Just one, the young man's name?"

Tsunade rose from her seat to show Hiashi the door. "Dachi of the Flowing Sands."

* * *

><p>"You can not seriously be thinking of handing over a Hyuga to one of our enemies." Danzo shouted at Tsunade.<p>

Tsunade turned and smiled sweetly at the crippled man. "I do believe that this council just voted to set up and allow the arranged marriage. Now, it is up to the individual clans effected to make their decisions. If the primary clan says no, we will open up the floor to discussion." She looked at Hiashi. "Lord Hyuga? Your thoughts?"

Hiashi stood, along with Hinata. "For almost a year now, I have attempted to keep my daughter away from an arranged marriage. Her heart had been crushed and I refused to allow any more pain to happen to my daughter. The Uchiha Clan has not respected that wish and keeps attempting to coerce myself into allowing the marriage where, I do believe, that Hinata would be mistreated to the up most degree. She would be seen as nothing more then a breading machine."

"However, after recent developments, one of which being this idea, I am not totally opposed as long as I get two things answered by the young man who would become my daughter's husband. Dachi of the Flowing Sands, are you an honorable man who will treat my daughter with the up most respect and care for her as long as you shall live."

Naruto nodded his head before answering in a gravely voice. "I am, Lord Hyuga." He said with a deep bow.

Hiashi had been taken back. He hadn't expected a vocal answer. "Very well. The second question is this. You have been told about our seal by the Hokage, correct?" Naruto nodded once more. "Recently, we have modified our Caged Bird Seal. It would keep Hinata from passing on her Byakugan to further generations but it does not inflict pain as punishment. If the ability is what you wanted, it will not be given at all to your children you would have out of the marriage. Honest to Kami truth, is this a problem."

Naruto exchanged a look with Gaara. "I believe Dachi is most worried about being lied to about the 'pain as punishment' idea. He had a very harsh childhood at the hands of his father and does not consider that a good thing. Are you being honest about this, Lord Hyuga?" Gaara explained.

_Nicely done, Naruto. You have the Kazekage answer the question for you when your emotions might betray your identity._ "I would never allow my daughter to be treated in such a way. You have my word, as a ninja and a father, that I speak the truth. The elders wil not allow Hinata to leave Konoha without the seal and this was my way to protect my daughter."

Naruto/Dachi bowed once more. "I accept this condition. Her bloodline did not factor into this equation."

"Equation?" Someone from the civilian side asked. "You did math to figure out who would be the best candidate for your arranged marriage? And the best you came up with was the weakling from Hyuga?"

Gaara and Naruto released their killing intent once more, this time at full force. Even Hiashi cringed at that and sat back in his chair. "We have gone over every single ninja in this village to figure out the arrangement. Hinata Hyuga is the one with the most promise and, above all else, the kindest heart. Dachi, like I explained, did not have an easy childhood. That, above all else, is what we used to consider this." Gaara said with ice in his voice.

Hiashi smiled down at his daughter. "Would you like to meet Dachi before giving me your thoughts?" Hinata gave a small nod as she walked slowly towards the Suna ninja.

"I refuse to allow this to happen!" Sasuke screamed out. "I challenge you for Hinata Hyuga!'

_His emotions must have gotten the best of him._ Hiashi thought. He knew the real reason that Sasuke wanted Hinata wasn't out of love or lust or wanting to beat Naruto at something. He wanted to combine both bloodlines into one to amass as much power for his clan as he could.

Garra exchanged looks with Dachi. The hooded man shook his head as Hinata crossed into their little circle. "I am sorry to say that we do not accept your challenge as it would be an insult to both this council and to Hinata Hyuga." Gaara told the enraged Uchiha.

The smirk on Sasuke's face told the whole story. "It wasn't a request." He said simply as he disappeared. A few seconds passed before he re appeared next to Naruto/Dachi, this time with a Kunai in his hand. He swung down, hoping to imbed the Kunai into the Suna's chest. Hinata rushed forward to attempt to stop him but she knew she wouldn't make it.

Just as the blade was about to connect with Naruto, it turned at a weird upward angle and away from the ninja. At the same time, his hand flashed up and gave Sasuke a chop into the windpipe. The Uchiha's eyes widened as he felt the hit and he dropped to his knees. As he did, a huge gust of wind came and threw him back into the Uchiha Clan's seats.

Naruto's eyes never left the pale lavender ones of his fiancé.

Danzo jumped to his feet. "ANBU! Arrest those ninja!"

"Why?" Tsunade asked. "He defended himself in front of everyone here. He refused the challenge, Sasuke attacked, he defended. Besides, none of those attacks were even close to lethal."

Danzo wanted to argue with the Hokage but she was right. While the chop might have hurt, he saw there wasn't much force behind it and the wind effect just threw him away from him. "I have to agree, honorable Hokage." He said as he moved to glare at the Kazekage's team.

What he found was a well orginazed team standing in the center of the room. Kankuro had unleashed one of his puppets, Temari had opened her fan to show the three suns, Gaara had drawn a line of sand at his feet and this Dachi had moved himself to put himself between Sasuke and Hinata. To even think about attacking them now would be suicide.

"Well," Tsunade said as she clapped her hands together. "I think that should be enough. With the chunin exams in a few days, we will hold our next meeting after the exams have completed. Council is adjourned." She said as everyone stood and proceeded to leave.

Naruto smiled from beneath his scarf and bowed before Hinata. As he rose, he gave her a wink before joining the siblings and left. Hinata wached him go with a heavy heart, wondering when she would see him again. A sound caused her to look over her shoulder to find her father and Tsunade standing there. "I think I've made my decision, father." She said with her depressed voice.

"I know, dear." was all Hiashi said as they left together.

_Very well played, Naruto. You made Sasuke look like a power hungry idiot, Hinata remained her depressed self and you didn't give anything away for the exams while defending yourself. There may be hope for you left._ Tsunade thought as she proceeded to walk to her office, feeling happier then she had for a long time.

* * *

><p>The four Suna ninja returned to their hotel room without problem. Temari was trying to figure out what she should say to him to get her point across. She knew that he was in love with Hinata. Hell, that was all he talked about since they started this crazy mission, but she wanted him to know how she felt for him too. Naruto announced he wanted to make a trip somewhere. Gaara told him to take Kankuro with him in case ANBU got jumpy and soon the pair left, leaving Temari with her younger brother.<p>

"Temari." Gaara said as he sat across the table from her. "Something on your mind you want to share?"

She just shook her head. "No, just…it's nothing."

"It's Naruto, right?" She shot him a look of astonishment. "Oh, come on. You have been upset ever since he revealed himself to Hinata. It's not hard to figure out."

She took a deep breath. "I just…I don't know. He gave me so much already. He gave me you again. I thought we had this thing going. He was always nice to me, talked about random things that had no real weight in the world, laughed and joked with me. I felt like I was really getting to know him and everything and then, the second we get back here, he goes back to Hinata." She growled out the heiress' name. "I want to beat her senseless but, at the same time, I don't want to hurt Naruto."

Gaara remained quiet for the whole explanation. "Look, I'm no expert as you can tell, but how does he make you feel?"

Temari thought about it for a few moments before sighing and blushing slightly. "Complete. Like I don't have to worry about anything. He makes me feel warm and just being around him is addictive and makes me crave more. When he's gone, I think of nothing but him and when he is close to me, I just want to keep him there."

Gaara nodded his head. "You, my dear sister, are in love."

"I know. How do I stop it? Because I see this ending in two ways. The first being that I get hurt or the second that I hurt either Naruto or Hinata…possibly both." Temari asked.

Garra raised a finger. "There is a third way…but it is defiantly the most difficult." He told her. "The marriage law. I still haven't abolished it since our numbers are still three to one."

Temari laughed. "Yeah, right. Like Naruto would take me as a second wife."

"He might if you talk to both him and Hinata about it. And I don't mean individually. You need to talk to both at the same time so they both know where you are coming from."

Temari laughed. "When did you get so wise in love, Garra?"

He shrugged. "Naruto and I are friends but you are my sister. I just want to see you happy." Gaara told her. "If that is with my closest friend, great. However, Naruto is just as confused as you."

"You mean, he knows?" She blushed.

Gaara nodded. "I told him yesterday."

"What did he say?" Temari asked.

Gaara shrugged. "Ask him yourself tomorrow. I don't think he is going to be very talkative when he gets back."

"Why? Where did he and Kankuro go?"

Gaara looked her straight in the eye. "To visit his mom and dad."

**A/N: Wow! I must really like this story or really like all of you. Two chapters in two days! I feel so proud.**

**I know, Gaara is acting a little OOC but, truth be told, maybe he grew up living with Naruto for a year. I guess I'm trying to justify it but, truth be told, I like Gaara for being the wise one.**

**Temari is in a real pickle, then again so is Naruto. How are they going to get through this?**

**Read, review and enjoy.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe. If I did, I wouldn't need to write fan fiction for it.**

**Chapter 3**

He told Kankuro that he didn't know where he was going, that he was just letting his feet carry him rather then tell them where they were going. Naruto knew that it was a lie. He had one destination in mind, one that he had to make it to before he could start his plan for revenge.

Together, the pair walked through town and towards the far side, away from everyone and everything. Kankuro was about to ask why they were coming this way when he finally caught sight of their intended location. "Oh, um…" He said. "I'll give you some time."

Naruto nodded from under his hood. "Keep close, though. I'm thinking either Danzo or the council will try something." He told him. "I'll just be a bit." He said, simply, as he entered into the graveyard by himself.

He had been here the night before his banishment, finally getting a chance to talk to his parents. This time, he wanted to talk to them as well as someone else. It was to this first grave that he went to. "Hey old man." He told the grave. "It's been some time now, hasn't it?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, had always treated him well. He was like a grandfather to Naruto and he had been very upset after the invasion when he found out that he had died. "I didn't get a chance to stop by when I was on my way out. I'm sorry. I should have told you."

"The council, in their infinite wisdom, had me banished about a year ago now. During that time, I made my way over to Suna and joined them. Gaara taught me how to use the Kyubi to my advantage and the two of us made peace. You don't have to worry about me. I'm fine." He said with a slight smile.

"Granny Tsunade and the Pervy Sage told me about mom and dad. I know what you did was to protect me but I hated you for it at first. I was so angry with you that I didn't come here to say goodbye before I left. I'm sorry, and I hope that you can forgive me for that. Hope you can tell me whenever I see you again." He said as he rested his hand on the gravestone. "I hope your happy with your teachers and my mom and dad." Naruto told the stone as he walked away.

He didn't have to walk far before another pair of headstones made him stop. "Hey, I made it back. I told you I would." Naruto told them. "I hope you two are still fine." He took a seat in front of them. "Look at me. I made it through one year of banishment and learned so much since then. Gaara took me in and made me a Suna ninja like I thought he would. Since then, I learned how to control the Kyubi better. Well…actually mom, I made a deal with him."

He cringed as he could swear he felt the rage from his mom. "Hey! I got a lot stronger through that, strong enough to defend everyone and everything after I take care of some things…like revenge." He said angrily. "I know how upset you guys are about it but I don't have to worry about the Kyubi getting loose anymore. I can use it's strength and power to protect everyone…especially Hinata."

A smile came across his face as he stared at their headstones. "I, kinda, proposed. By kinda I mean that we entered into an arranged marriage. But, I wish you were here, dad. I could use your advice."

"**You could have just asked me."** Kyubi's voice filtered through his head.

_Kyubi, what do you know about girls?_

"**No, I have something for you."** The tailed beast told him before he felt himself enter his mindscape.

* * *

><p>Naruto found himself not where he expected himself to end up. He was fully expecting to be in the sewers of his mind where the Kyubi was caged.<p>

He didn't expect to find himself standing in a solid white room. "Kyubi! What is the point of this?"

"You asked for my advice, did you not?" A strange, yet extremely familiar, voice asked from behind him. Naruto turned and his jaw dropped in surprise.

It was almost like looking into a mirror for him but he knew it wasn't him standing in front of him. The man had the same blond hair, the same blue eyes, but he was dressed completely different. While Naruto had his brown long robes and dust cloak on, the man wore blue with a white long coat that had blue flames on the bottom. He looked slightly bored and Naruto noticed that there were no whisker marks on his face. However, there was a small smile as he opened his arms. "Not even a hug for your old man?"

Naruto couldn't believe it. Standing in front of hi, in his mind, was his dad. Minato Namikaze. The Fourth Hokage. "Dad?" Minato nodded at him. "Dad!" He screamed before launching himself into his first ever hug with his dad.

"Yeah, it's me." Minato said softly and with a small laugh. "Look, I don't have much time. This was part of the seal I placed on you so I don't have long. My chakra inside the seal will dissipate soon. So, what advice can you use?"

Naruto smiled at him. "It's about girls."

Minato's smile became much larger. "Ah, yes, Hinata and Temari." At Naruto's confused look he explained. "I'm a part of you and the Kyubi. I can see what you have done. Now, my advice…you need to talk to both of them and then to Hinata and Temari alone. You need to talk to Hinata first after that since she will be your first wife. She might get jealous and, let me tell you, a jealous wife is not something you really want."

"What happens if they agree to the three way marriage?" Naruto asked. "I mean, I can barely talk to Hinata and Temari without messing up. How can I juggle having them both as my wives?"

Minato shrugged. "That is something that you three need to talk about. I think, if you remain calm about it and are completely honest with them, then you will be surprised." He said with a smile. "Listen, I don't have much more time. I have one thing for you, my only gift from father to son." He said as he placed a hand on his forehead. "Find the house. It's still standing and it's located in Training Ground 3. Take Hinata, Temari too, with you. I'm sure the Hyuga's can find it if they are looking for it. Now, I have to go." He said as he rustled Naruto's hair. "Your mother and I are so proud of you. Believe in yourself and your abilities. Keep your family safe, son."

Naruto smiled once more before hugging his dad.. "I love you, dad. I will, I promise you. Believe it."

Minato did that as he smiled down at his son. "I do son and I love you too."

The white space slowly dissolved until Naruto found himself back in the recesses of his mind. "Thank you, Kyubi."

It actually smiled at him. **"Not a problem, kit. Let me know if you ever want to talk with your mom as well. She left a bit of her chakra as well so she could stop you from taking the last part of the seal off. That is where your dad's chakra came from."**

Naruto nodded. "Maybe some other time. Why show this to me now, though?"

The vision began to disappear again. **"You asked for it."** was all the biju said as Naruto returned to the real world.

* * *

><p>"Dachi!" Kankuro's voice screamed into his ear. "Snap out of it. We got a problem."<p>

Naruto stood at that moment and turned around. Kankuro had deployed Salamander to stand between the pair of them and the five black cloaked figures in front of him now. "Let me guess, Danzo?" Naruto growled in his Dachi voice. "Kankuro, can you promise to help me make sure none of them get away?"

The smile on his brother's face was larger then Naruto remembered ever seeing. "Oh, I think I can do that."

Naruto nodded as he looked at the five ANBU agents in front of him. "Last chance, leave now and you will live. The second I take this hood off, you will die." None of the black cloaks left. "Very well." Naruto said dropping the growl for his voice. "I guess I will have to kill before the exams."

The ANBU agents looked confused as Naruto dropped his scarf from his face. "Who?" one asked them.

"Oh, allow me to introduce my self. My name," Naruto removed the hood. "is Naruto Namikaze." He said as he charged up all of the power the Kyubi gave him at once. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." He whispered as four clones appeared. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Temari and Gaara were waiting for the pair to return from Naruto's little journey. "I hope they are okay." Temari said to no one.<p>

Gaara actually laughed slightly. "Well, let's think about this. Kankuro took Salamander and Crow with him so he has his strongest offense and defense on him. Naruto has perfected his defense, has unlocked his full Kyubi form and is far stronger then he was when he defeated me. I think they will be fine."

"But Naruto wants to keep from announcing his presence. If he unleashes, he will give away that element of surprise."

Gaara nodded. "Yes, but I don't think he will unleash just yet. Do you?"

"If he finds Sasuke on the street…yeah, I do. Especially after that attempt to attack him."

The smile on Gaara's face rivaled that of the one Naruto used to wear before his exile. "He was fine. He had his defense up. Didn't you see it?"

Temari nodded. "Yeah, but I've never seen anything like that before."

"It's Naruto's version of my sand defense. In actuality, his is probably better but I have more experience in using mine." Gaara explained. "He creates a very intense gust of wind that can deflect attacks. It's almost like an armored shell around him. That is the reason the kunai turned like it did."

"And the gale force wind?"

"I'm guessing that it was in his father's jutsu scroll he has. I assume he has been holding back in his spars with you." Gaara joked.

Temari blushed a deep red. "If he is, I didn't know about it. I've even won quite a few times against him."

"More like he let you win, dear sister."

Temari's blush creped lower on her neck as her fists clenched in anger. "I am going to kill him." She growled.

At that moment, the door to their room swung open. Naruto was the first one inside and he was not in a good mood. He didn't say hi or anything, just walked slowly across the room before walking outside to the balcony. Kankuro followed behind him, looking very thoughtful as he entered their room. "Now…" Temari began before her brothers both glared at her to shut up.

Gaara looked at Naruto for a few moments before turning to his brother. "How many?"

"Five, not ANBU that I was able to make out but not normal ninja either. None of them stood a chance against him."

"Cause of death?" Gaara asked, worried that it would come back to the four of them.

Kankuro nodded. "He was clean. Multiple stab and weapon wounds. A few slit throats but…" Kankuro looked out the door at Naruto's back. "One died of a broken neck."

Gaara raised an eye brow. "That seems personal."

Kankuro nodded. "He was dead before that. Just hadn't been taken away. The kid was ruthless on that one. Slit him from groin to chest, spilling his guts out, literally.

Temari was in shock. She had heard stories of Naruto's anger from his former teammates but this rivaled Gaara before he fought Naruto. "What did he say to make him do that?"

"Naruto took off his scarf and hood for this fight. The guy said that their orders were just to kill him but, after finding out that it was Naruto, that they would be greatly rewarded for capturing him. He then said that he also had plans for Hinata. They were going to kidnap her, harvest her eyes, drug her daily and turn her into a Hyuga breeding machine…and if Naruto and Hinata were really lucky, in that order. He then made several comments about Temari that I will not say since I want to live." Kankuro told them. His sister looked like she wanted to kill him.

"Temari," Gaara told her. "Calm down. It sounds like Naruto took care of that one personally. Now, the question becomes who were they working for?"

Kankuro nodded as he took a seat across from his brother. Temari kept her gaze on Naruto to make sure he didn't do anything stupid…like going after Hinata to make sure she was safe. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Gaara nodded before Naruto returned to the room and quickly hid his face once more.

Kankuro answered the door to find Jiraiya standing on the other side. "No time to explain, I need him."

"Why?" Naruto asked his teacher.

The old man raised his hand to show he was holding a scroll. "An hour and a half ago, there was a break in at the Hyuga Compound. Hinata is fine but there was a note left inside her room. It's addressed to Dachi."

Naruto waved the old man inside the room so that they could have more privacy. "Any idea who is responsible?"

Jiraiya shook his head as Naruto removed his hood. "Not yet. I have my suspicions but I think we will find out more when we read that."

Naruto nodded as he unrolled the scroll and placed it on the table for everyone to read.

_I don't know who you really are but this is a warning. We know how to get in. We know how to get out. Next time, we will take your princess away from you._

_Leave Konoha now, before the exams are finished, and nothing shall happen to your dear betrothed. If not, the consequences of your actions will lead to the path you do not want her to go down._

Gaara looked at Naruto and smiled at him. "Looks like your plan to piss off someone worked, Dachi."

"Yeah, and I have a feeling I know who is behind it. I just wish we could prove it." Naruto told the room.

Jiraiya nodded his agreement. "It has to be Danzo calling the shots. However, I think this confirms that the Hyuga have a spy in their midst."

Naruto nodded as well. "We need to get Haishi in on this. I also want to move Hinata and Hanabi away from the compound. The danger to either of them is too great to risk. I have an idea where they can go but I need a Hyuga to go with me to find it." He looked at Jiraiya. "Can you get a message to Hinata and ask her to meet me at Training Ground 3?"

Jiraiya looked at him in shock. "Who told you?" He asked. "I didn't think anyone knew about it besides your mom, dad, Tsunade and myself?"

Naruto smiled at him. "Let's just say that you are completely correct." He said easily. "Now, go. It would look weird if you stayed longer. Let me know what Hiashi says when you get a chance."

Jiraiya took one more look at his student before leaving in a rush. "Well, what are we going to do about this?" Kankuro asked. "We're not leaving before the exams start, right? There is no way in hell we are running from this fight."

Gaara shook his head. "No, but I think we might need to prepare for a war instead of just a fight."

Naruto had to agree with that assessment. Someone was trying to get at him through his hime. "I just got her back. If Hinata goes somewhere, I want to knock on that door just seconds after it closes. To do that…I need to use it."

Temari nodded as he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, causing both to blush lightly. "When you do, I'm coming with." She said simply.

"As are we." Gaara told them.

Naruto smiled at his friends, friends he was close enough with to actually feel comfortable in calling them his family.

* * *

><p><em>Day of Exams<em>

Naruto walked slightly behind Temari and Kankuro as they entered into the exam building. He knew that his job was to stay as hidden as possible and not to try and break his cover. So far, he had refrained from using any jutsu that could be traced back to him. "I can't wait to get my hands on that traitor." He growled quietly as the three made their way into the first exam room."

Temari nodded her agreement. "I know. It will be so nice not having to cover for you anymore." She teased him. Naruto just grunted at her. Their relationship had improved again to what it was before they had left Suna. Naruto was happy because he felt like Gaara was right. He had started to notice the little things that she did around him that told him what her feelings were.

"What are we going to do about the third member?" Kankuro asked.

Naruto shrugged from his hidden hood. "It's not like it's her fault. Ino just got trapped in a bad situation. So, if we get a chance, we can see if she will walk away. If not…well, then we stick to the plan."

The three of them sat in the back and watched groups of ninja arrive. Naruto was very happy to see that both Team Gai and Team 8 showed up together and in high spirits. He watched as Hinata exchanged looks with Temari, and he knew what was being said. Hinata moved to come and say hello but a raised hand from Temari and a look at her teammates stopped her in her tracks.

Naruto was secretly happy that Hinata and her team didn't come anywhere near them. It would be difficult to explain his scent and chakra signature to Kiba and Shino. After all, the team was made up of the best tracking clans in Konoha. He highly doubted that his scent had changed much from living in the desert or that his chakra was different from merging his chakra with the Kyubi's.

Temari moved so she stood in front of him. At the same moment, Kankuro closed in around his other side so that they effectively had him blocked in. "Don't." was all Temari told him as she motioned with her head over her right shoulder. Naruto looked and let out a deep growl at the sight before him.

Team 7 had just entered the room.

First to enter were Sasuke and the newest Uchiha, Sakura. They both walked with an air of confidence that Naruto couldn't believe. Neither had changed much, other then getting taller. Sasuke was still wearing his pure black uniform with the white bandages. Sakura had traded her long dress in for a tank top and black skirt. Naruto was happy to see that his friends all glared at the pair and kept their distance.

Trailing behind them was Ino. She looked very similar to when Naruto had last seen her when she had been supporting Choji. Her hair was still up in her high ponytail, she still wore her purple skirt and shirt…but Naruto noticed that the sparkle in her eye had been removed. It looked as if she had been defeated already just walking into the exam. He was glad, however, to see that his friends didn't hold her in the same light that they did the Uchihas.

Naruto wanted longer to study Sasuke when he was away from Danzo but a puff of smoke caught his attention. Their examiner had arrived. He had been expecting Ibiki again but he smiled through his scarf and hood at the familiar face in front of the classroom.

He was dressed as many of the Konoha shinobi were. His hair had been tied back into a ponytail and his dark eyes had a slight smile to match the one on his face. The only noticeable thing was the large scar running across the bridge of his nose.

"Alright everyone." Iruka told the class. "Welcome to this Chunin Exams. I am Iruka Umino, your jonin instructor for this first part of your exam. This is to be a written test. You will have one hour to complete these 20 questions. At the end of that time, if you have not finished, you will be disqualified along with your teammates. If you are caught cheating, you will be disqualified as well as your team. Setting has been assigned and you have the next five minutes to find your assigned seat. Those not in your seat by the end of that time will be dismissed as well as that team."

Naruto found his seat quickly and smiled at both his fortune and misfortune. He was misfortunate that he was seated directly behind Sakura and had Neji seated behind him and to the right. Kiba was not too far away as well. His fortune, however, was that he was seated next to the same person he was last year. "Hinata-hime." He said in his Dachi voice while bowing before his fiancé.

She smiled at him before bowing as well. "Dachi-sama." She said lightly. She tried to keep from shouting for joy at being near Naruto for the next hour but didn't want to give away the blondes plan.

"Very well," Iruka said shortly after. "We shall begin. You have one hour starting…now."

Naruto smiled as he watched everyone struggle to begin. He had a plan for how to pass this part of the exam and he knew he could pull it off. So he sat back and watched as everyone worked on their tests while he remembered what happened a week ago.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback<strong>

_One week earlier_

Naruto, Hinata, Temari and Hanabi were sitting around inside of his family's safe house. They had found it the day before and Naruto was happy that Hiashi had agreed to let the two girls live there until they could make sure they were safe at the compound or until Hinata left with Naruto. "I still can't believe you were able to convince your dad, Hina-hime." Naruto told her.

She just smiled at him. "Hanabi did all the work. I just nodded my head a lot."

Hanabi, who was sitting next to her sister smiled at her soon to be brother in law. "It was easy. Father is a push over for us and all I had to do was push those few buttons and got him to agree."

"Did he mention any ideas about who could be your possible spy?" Temari asked the sisters.

They shook their heads. "He has ideas, most are not any better then the time Hinata was kidnapped. His major thought that the spy is actually on the elder council." Hanabi informed them.

Naruto growled again, this time enough to make Hinata raise a concern. "Naruto, what is with all the growling? You've done it multiple times since your return and I don't remember you ever doing that before."

Naruto blushed slightly. Temari caught his eye and just shrugged. "I never noticed the change but I wasn't around you often enough before your banishment."

Naruto stood and paced slightly before looking at the three girls. "Just after I was banished, I told you both I made that deal with Kyubi, right?" The elder two nodded while Hanabi just stayed quiet. "Well, in doing so, the two of us got much closer then before. Parts of him are now a part of me. My growling, my sense of smell, the fact that I now posses twice the amount of chakra without trying, all can be contributed to Kyubi."

Hinata nodded. "I guess that makes sense but why do you do it?"

Naruto blushed again. "Well, I growl now when something angers me or…when I become territorial."

Temari raised a hand to her mouth to contain the laugh that threatened to come out. "Territorial?" Hanabi asked.

"You ever see a wild animal become territorial when you get to close to it's home or when it's defending it's family? I have the same thing." Naruto explained.

"So you are territorial of Hinata?" She asked.

Naruto blushed again and Temari couldn't contain her laughter anymore. She ended up on the floor, laughing so hard. Suddenly, a thought hit her. "Wait, what about that mission?" She asked.

Naruto gave her a look that made her realize that she was in trouble. "Oh? What mission?" Hinata asked.

Naruto took his seat again on the couch across from the Hygua sisters. "We were given a mission just before we came here. It was to the capital of the Land of Wind. We were supposed to guard a high ranking diplomat at some sort of fancy get together."

"We made it through most of the night but just before we were to switch locations with Kankuro, this guy comes up and starts hitting on me." Temari continued. "Naruto came right up by me and growled so menacing that even I was caught off guard."

_I growled at that guy because he put his hand on Tema-chan's ass._ Naruto thought. He looked and Hinata and saw the hurt in her eyes at hearing that story. "You could have waited, Tema." He said, using his nick name for her.

She just shrugged. "I figured we needed to talk."

"Hanabi, can you excuse the three of us? We need to talk about things." Naruto asked of the young heiress. She nodded her head and left for her bedroom inside the sparsely furnished safe house. "I was really praying to Kami you would wait until after the exams to bring this up." He said as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun." Temari said honestly. "I just didn't want to drag this on."

Naruto looked over and saw the amount of hurt in Hinata's gaze. "Hinata-hime. We need to listen to Tema-chan." He said as he took the spot next to Hinata and grasped her hand in his own. She looked over with tears in her eyes and he smiled gently. "I'm not going anywhere and you are not leaving my side." He said with a smile.

Temari gave both a sad glance. "Listen, both of you, I need to say this and I really want to do it without being interrupted." Both of them nodded. "Okay, before I even get started. Hinata, I'm really sorry." The Hyuga smiled at her.

"When Naruto moved to Suna, I was very happy. After all, he was the one who gave me my brother back." There was a smile on her face as she looked at Naruto. "After several weeks the two of us started to get along. We would laugh, eat, and train together. I found myself thinking about him more and more."

Temari looked at Naruto and gave a small sigh. "I'm sorry for doing this, Naruto-kun, especially do to the situation you are in now and with our plans coming together but I thought you both disserved to know as soon as possible since it wouldn't be fair to either of you." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm afraid that I have fallen in love with you, Naruto-kun." She whispered. "I didn't expect this at all. I thought it was just a crush like the one I had for Shikamaru but it's just…whenever your gone, I want to spend more time with you and when you are with me, I feel as if everything is right in the world."

"It isn't fair to you, Hinata, and that is the reason I felt I should tell you both tonight rather then just wait through the exams and everything that is to follow. Once again, I'm sorry."

For some time, the room remained silent before Temari let a few tears fall. Hinata stood quickly and embraced Temari as Naruto sat there and remained quiet. This wasn't his place to talk just yet and he knew it. The pair of girls remained standing in the center of the room before Hinata broke the hug and held Temari at arms length. "Listen to me, Temari-chan. I know how you feel. For many years, I watched Naruto-kun from afar, even farther then you did. I loved him for years. I would do anything for you to have your chance but I don't know if there is a way for you to do that."

Temari gave the girl a small smile. "Well, there kind of is." Hinata looked confused. "Let me ask you this, if there was a way for both of us to be with Naruto-kun, would you have a problem with it?"

Hinata thought about it for several moment s before shaking her head. "No. I would not have a problem with sharing with you. But just you."

Naruto smiled at his Hinata-hime. "Hinata-chan, there is a law in Suna where Naruto can take on more then one wife." Temari explained. "It's not like the Clan Re-population Act here in Konoha. It's something else. Suna's population is mostly female so husbands are few. Add in that we do not have the income that you do here in Konoha and my father made a law about taking on multiple wives."

Hinata nodded. "Ok, but what is the difference in the first wife and any others?"

"Absolutely nothing. Each wife holds the same amount of respect and power. I guess, the first wife gets to bear the first child but nothing other then that."

Hinata smiled at her before nodding. "Then I think we found you a solution…that is if Naruto-kun has no problem with it."

Naruto remained quiet before answering, his gaze firmly on the floor in front of his seat. "Hina-hime, Tema-chan, I…I am worried."

Both girls exchanged looks. This wasn't the same Naruto that they knew. "What about?" Temari asked. "Is it me?"

Naruto quickly shook his head and raised his hands. "No, nothing like that. I like you, Tema-chan, I really do." He then lowered his gaze again. "It's just…I'm afraid. I'm afraid that by getting close to me, you two will become targets. I'm really worried that I won't be able to take care of you both. I can barely talk to both of you, how can I show you the love and respect you both deserve, never mind children?"

Hinata saw what this was about right away. "It's because you've been alone for so long, right?" Naruto nodded. "Naru-kun, we both love you. I can see that. I also can see that you love both of us. I am sure you will be fine."

"What if I loose control and hurt either or both of you? Maybe I should just be alone for…"

"NARUTO NAMIKAZE!" Both girls yelled at once. "You deserve to be loved just like any other." Temari explained. "Maybe even more so because of the way the village treated you. We love you and we are not going to let you get away."

Naruto took a deep breath before lifting his gaze at both of the girls. "I guess I lose this argument. Huh?"

Both girls shook their heads. "I think you need to get used to it." Temari told him. "After all, you will have both of us as wives and the wife is always right."

* * *

><p><strong>End Flashback<strong>

A slight tap on his arm broke his concentration as he looked at Hinata next to him. She glared at him and then at the written test in front of him. He caught her hint right away as she raised her hand to show he had five minutes left.

Naruto nodded at her before searching out a target. There were several to pick from. He really wanted to pick on Sasuke, but with the limited amount of time he had left he needed just to pick a random squad member and use his technique on them.

He decided to use one of the Ame squads. He had a member two rows ahead of him. He pulled his hands up into the sleeves of his robe and did the necessary hand signs. "Kitsune Art: Memory Steal." He whispered softly as he targeted the ninja. Suddenly, he felt the ninjas memories of the past hour flow into him and he quickly jotted down the completed test and finished just as time ran out.

"Pencil's down." Iruka called out. He looked out at the remaining teams and gave a small nod. "Very good. We have about twenty-6ne teams left. Congratulations on passing the first test."

Naruto smirked. Once again, this first exam was designed to find out if you could gather information without being caught. As he thought about it, there was a crash as something flew through the window and landed in front of Iruka. Naruto made out the brown trench coat and smirked at seeing another familiar face.

"Your second exam begins now!" The woman shouted as she stood up.

"Anko-chan, your early." Iruka told her. He then leaned in and whispered into her ear. "I will make you pay for that latter." He said softly enough that Naruto almost didn't hear him.

The blush that came to Anko's face was enough for Naruto to figure it out. _Iruka-sensei and Anko?_ "Your exam will begin in two hours. Head for training ground 44." She said as she bowed to Iruka before leading the group out the room.

Naruto caught up to Temari and Kankuro. "Any problems?" He asked.

Both shook their head. "No, but I think we might have a leak." Temari whispered to him. She looked at Naruto. "Bug Boy gave you several glances."

Naruto nodded. He knew it was a long shot of remaining hidden through out the exam. At least Shino was a friend…maybe. Could Shino be anyone's friend?

* * *

><p>The Forest of Death rose before them. It hadn't changed at all from how Naruto remembered it. "Alright, gennin. This here is the Forest of Death. In about one hour, we will open up these gates and you will have five days to complete your mission. Each team will be given a map. The map shows the location of seven locations that you must get to during the next exam. Each team must present themselves at five locations before gaining access to the tower in the center of the forest."<p>

"That seams easy enough." One shouted.

Anko gave a smirk. "True, if you knew where all the locations were." Naruto smiled from beneath his scarf. "Each map shows to location of two safe areas. You must find the remainder on your own." She held up a piece of paper. "Each team must sign this release waver to enter this part of the exam. You have one hour."

Naruto smirked. This was going to be easier then he thought.

* * *

><p><em>Next Day<em>

"How many more?" Kankuro asked as he and Naruto led the way to the center of the forest.

Temari took out their pass scroll and counted. "We have six so far." She told them. "We just need location four and we got all seven."

Naruto shook his head. "No, six is enough. No reason to show off to much." He said simply as they continued walking. As soon as he entered into the forest, he had sent groups of shadow clones off disguised as the team. Each group was to fins a location and mark it before dissipating. They had found the first three within the first four hours with the last three spread out among the following ten. After that, it was simply to go to the location and get their pass scroll marked.

Amazingly, they had only run into a few other teams but they had been too busy running from Temari and her fan to bother them. "We should make the center of the forest by nightfall." He told them.

"Good, I could use a shower." Kankuro said.

Temari stiffened a giggle. "Yeah, we know."

Naruto almost made a comment when he felt a huge chakra spike coming right at them. "Crap, incoming!" He growled as he took up his spot in front of the wind mistress. Kankruo put a hand on his puppet and made ready as there was a crash of foliage and the team rushing towards them came into view.

"YOSH! I knew it was you! Your flames of youth…" Lee yelled excited at finding the Sand Siblings.

"Lee!" Tenten cut him off. "We just want your map." Naruto watched, slightly worried of the Hyuga genius who had remained quiet. Luckily, Neji did not have his Byakugan activated. "What locations did you have?"

Naruto let out a stiff laugh as Temari answered. "You have to ask nicely."

Kankuro just shrugged. "Does it matter? Dachi just said we had enough to pass." He said as he threw Team Gai the map. "Here."

Naruto gave the puppet master a nod as the three continued walking. "Your just going to give it to them?" Temari asked.

Naruto just shrugged. "They are friends." He growled in his Dachi voice as they passed and continued on their way.

He felt the Hyuga turn his gaze on the three of them as they passed and he really hoped his identity was still hidden. If word got out before the finals…

Naruto just prayed that Neji would keep his mouth shut for once.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There we go. Finally done. It took a little longer then I would have liked since I had some major problems just writing this chapter. Don't worry, the next several chapters will be much better in quality then this one. I promise you that.**

**I threw in the little Anko/Iruka moment for a reason. I love that pairing. Mine, though, is a role reversal when it comes to the bedroom for them. It will make sense later, I promise.**

**Probably the hardest part was writing Temari's confession. That took me forever.**

**Read, review and enjoy.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe. If I did, I wouldn't need to write fan fiction for it.**

**Chapter 4**

Naruto and his team made great time getting to the tower in the center of the forest. They had finished in just under 24 hours after the start of the second stage. Upon entering, the team was met by the Hokage and Kazekage, both shared the same smile. "Congrats on making it so fast." Tsunade told them as she left. Since they were the brother, sister and 'student' of Gaara, they were told that they would be staying in the Kazekage's suite.

Naruto immediately went to the balcony once more and begin meditating, trying to find out how his friends were doing. "He's been worried about her." Kankuro explained to Gaara. "Apparently, several of the teams that are from the other countries are similar in strength to the last exam cycle."

Gaara nodded at Kankuro. "I would be too if Matsuri was in this exam. The team from Kiri is said to be incredibly strong." He paused and looked at Temari. "What do you think? After all, he is your boyfriend."

Temari gave a light blush but smiled at what Gaara said. "He's worried just because she's not here. It has nothing to do with the other teams or thinking that her team is too weak or anything like that. Hell, if he was still a Konoha ninja, I would be worried about him too, even if Team 7 is the strongest team out of Konoha."

All three siblings shared looks as they returned their attention to the last member of the group. "Naruto-kun?" Temari asked. "Come back inside. I'll give you a nice massage and you can rest since you used so many clones to help us get through that."

Naruto turned around and gave her a small smile as he stood. "That sounds like a great plan. After all, I can't do anything now, can I?" All three shook their heads. "Just as long as they stay away from Sasuke and the Kiri team, they will be fine." He said as if he was trying to reassure himself.

* * *

><p>Hinata and her team had stopped as the sun started to fall behind the trees. "Hinata, a word, please?" Shino asked her as Kiba left to gather some firewood.<p>

Hinata nodded and walked over to her teammate. "Ye-yes, Shi-shi-no-kun?" She faked her stutter.

He gave her a raised eyebrow. "I know who's here so you can drop it."

Hinata gave him a small smile. "Fine, I figured you would." She said. "You aren't going to tell anyone, are you?"

He shook his head. "I don't know if I should or not. He is a friend and you like him but I'm worried about why he is here." Shino told her. "You'll be happy to know that they have already finished this stage, by the way."

"Look, I can't say anything here, the trees have ears. I promise, once we get out of here, I will explain everything to you."

"And Kiba?" Shino asked. He knew how Kiba would react. After all, he had 'claimed' Hinata as his 'bitch' when Naruto had been banished last year.

Hinata gave him a scowl. "I think we both know the answer to that one. Trust me; He will not endanger Konoha…at least, while I'm still here."

Shino caught that hint and shuddered to think what would happen if Hinata had left with Naruto like she had wanted to last year.

* * *

><p>"I feel like I should know that man." Neji was saying across the forest from his cousin.<p>

"Which one?" Tenten asked from her place next to their fire. She had caught a few rabbits and they were making rabbit stew.

Neji shook his head. "The one who keeps himself bundled up in those robes and is teammates with the Kazekage's siblings. While searching for chakra signatures, his stood out. It was familiar. I just can't remember where."

Lee looked up from where he was doing pushups near the tents. "Did we fight him at some point?"

Neji just shrugged. "I don't know. I wish I knew exactly who this guy is."

"His name is Dachi of the Flowing Sands." Tenten began. "He is a student of the Kazekage and some think that he is actually his apprentice. Dachi is also the one who is entered into that arranged marriage with your cousin, Neji. Both Hinata and your uncle approve of him." Both of her teammates looked at her. "What? Father told me."

Lee just shook his head. "Neji, think, where do you remember him from?"

Neji closed his eyes. And let his brain do the work. He knew he felt that chakra signature before. "I remember it from the chunin exams last year, not the invasion but actually during the exams." He thought on it before his eyes shot open. "NO!" He shouted out in surprise. "It's Naruto!"

"Naruto?" Lee and Tenten asked together. "How do you know?" Tenten said as she scooped out helpings of the stew. "We haven't heard anything from him since his banishment."

"When I fought against Naruto in the exams, he used a secondary chakra that re-opened his tenketsu points. That man, Dachi, has the same red chakra that Naruto used." Neji explained.

Lee looked confused as he started eating the stew. "Couldn't it be someone who just has the same thing that he did?"

Neji shook his head. "Unless there are two Kyubi, I don't think so. That's what the red chakra is in his system. It's the chakra from the Kyubi. Besides, only one person has ever come close to having that same feel to their chakra and that is the Kazekage, which makes sense seeing how they both have tailed demons sealed inside of them. Even then, the Kazekage's is slightly different from Naruto's. This Dachi and Naruto…is almost an exact match."

"Almost?" Tenten asked confused.

Neji just nodded. "Before, during the exams, it was as if the red chakra was an inferno contained inside Naruto. Now, he has full control and it has integrated itself with his own chakra. Without a shadow of a doubt in my mind, Naruto is this Dachi."

"It is most un-youthful to hide your appearance from your friends! I should have a word with Naruto about this un-youthful behavior of his."

"Lee," Tenten tried to calm him down. "Naruto has a kill on sight order inside of Konoha." She shook her head. "These exams just got a hell of a lot more interesting."

* * *

><p>The next few days crawled by at a snails pace for Naruto and Team Suna. They had nothing really to do other then relax rest and train some more since they had almost four whole days until the next part of the exam started. Naruto and Gaara spent time discussing Gaara's relationship problem some more while Temari laid with her head in Naruto's lap for the most part and Kankuro oiled his puppets to make sure they would work right in case of a preliminary round like last year.<p>

On the third day, the team spent their time in light sparring sessions with each other. Contact was kept at a minimum since no one wanted to get hurt right before the fights or have Kankuro have to perform repairs on his puppets because Naruto and Temari destroyed them all. By the end of the day, they were still the only team that had completed the exam so far.

That night, however, Team Gai and Team 8 made it to the tower along with a bloody and exhausted looking team from Kiri. Hinata wanted nothing more then to talk with Naruto but she was so exhausted that she just followed her team to their room and slept.

The following day, Naruto remained in the suite to avoid making contact with someone who might know who he was. Hinata came to the rooms early on and told him about Shino and that she was stopped by Neji earlier asking if she knew who Dachi really was. Naruto just smiled at her and told her not to worry about Shino and to tell Neji to keep it quiet for now. Together with Temari, the small family relaxed and discussed how their unique relationship would work. Hinata passed out about half way through the conversation when Temari insisted that she have the first child from Naruto. They also worked it out that once children did enter the picture, that someone would always be home with the children, no matter if it was Temari's or Hinata's children and they would both be mom to them all.

Naruto smiled as he fell asleep that night with Temari curled up next to him at the thought that he finally had what he had been missing all those years before in Konoha.; a family that loved him for who he was.

The next day was the final day of the second round. Amazingly, a new rookie team from Konoha had been able to make it to the tower the night before. All five teams were assembled inside the arena just before noon. _Five teams, fifteen fighters. Sounds like we will have seven fights to see who makes it to the finals with one person getting an automatic entry._ Naruto thought.

As he finished his thought process, the doors behind them swung open to reveal a tired looking Team 7. Naruto smirked as he saw that Sasuke's swagger had been removed from his step and that Sakura looked like she couldn't even stand, much less fight. He exchanged looks from inside his robes with Temari and Kankuro as they both smirked at the unfortunate Team 7.

Naruto was surprised to see that Ino was smiling as she walked behind the other two and giggled alongside Tenten like it was some secret between the pair of them. Hinata blushed and giggled as well at hearing the quick conversation the two girls were sharing. Lee couldn't stop a smile coming to his face while Neji hid behind the 'Hyuga Mask.'

"Congratulations are in order for completing the second stage." Tsunade began while Naruto started to drown her out. It was the same speech from last year with Kiba interrupting that they had all heard this already and hurry up with the fights. _Six teams, eighteen fighters now._

There was a black mass that appeared in between the teams and the instructors as it formed into the shape of a man. Standing before them, his hair still held up in a ponytail that made him look like a pineapple was another old friend of Naruto. "Troublesome. The rules of this stage are simple. You will have to fight one person to make it on. You win; you pass and go to the finals. You lose, you don't. You will stop if I tell you to, your opponent is knocked out or dead, or if you can not continue. Last chance for those who would like to drop out."

Immediately, Ino and one of the Kiri ninjas raised their hands and were told they could remain and watch. Naruto watched as the giant screen returned and scrolled through the names, finally stopping on two. Shikamaru nodded. "Dachi of Suna and Ryochi Hisakawa of Konoha please remain. Everyone else can watch the fight from the balcony."

Naruto turned to face his opponent. He was shorter then Naruto now and wore a green t-shirt with black sleeves, black pants and shinobi sandals and a bandoleer across his chest. "Both fighters ready?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto nodded as he pulled his hands into his robes and bowed. As he did, he started working through the multiple hand signs needed for this technique he wanted to use. "Begin." Shikamaru told the fighters as Naruto landed on the final sign.

"Demonic Nightmare Possession." He whispered softly as he caught his opponent in his strongest genjutsu. He smiled as he watched the boys eyes widen before closing and falling backwards. "He's stuck in a genjutsu. I recommend someone get him out of it before his mind shatters." He growled out in his Dachi voice as he walked away.

Shikamaru looked at him confused until Ryochi began to scream in his sleep. "Winner: Dachi." He said as he rushed to the rookie's side to remove him from the genjutsu. Across the room, the Konoha teams began whispering to each other while Shino and Neji caught Hinata's eye and smirked. "What was that?" Kiba asked his sensei. After all, it was a genjutsu and she was the Genjutsu Mistress.

"That was an A-rank genjutsu called Demonic Nightmare Possession. It works in two parts. First, it putts the opponent to sleep so that they can not get out of it on their own before showing the opponent their worst nightmares condensed into one. It's difficult to use but once you do…well, you can see how well it works."

"But he didn't even use hand signs!" Kiba countered.

"He did." Shino told him. "That was the reason for withdrawing his hands into his robes. He knows we have an Uchiha and didn't want to give him anything to steal from." He explained.

They all looked to see an obviously angry Sasuke. He had his Sharingan activated so he could copy techniques. However, this Dachi had not only found a way around it but also won with just a simple genjutsu. "Hnm." He said as he watched Dachi walk away from his defeated opponent.

"What's wrong, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"It doesn't look like I'll get anything out of Suna. Gaara's sister channels wind through her fan and his brother is a puppet user. The only way I could have figured something from Suna was this Dachi but he must have known I would be watching. Gaara must have told him."

Kakashi was standing behind his student and just shook his head at him. He still hadn't made up his mind about where he stood on the whole Naruto/Sasuke issue. On one hand, Naruto was his sensei's son. On the other, he owed it to Obito to train Sasuke. However, he was leaning more and more into the Naruto side of Konoha with every action Sasuke did. _Obito was never like you. He was more like Naruto then Sasuke. Have I been wrong this whole time?_

Hinata was smiling as she quickly cast a minor level genjutsu that Kurenai taught her to send Naruto a mental kiss while Temari gave him a quick hug and a nudge. The next few matches went by fast for Naruto. Sasuke won against one of the Kiri ninja by using the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique and then placing his sword at the ninja's throat. Shino had the misfortune of fighting against Lee next. He quickly forfeited when it became apparent that he couldn't keep up with his speed even before Lee took of the leg weights.

Kankuro fought next against the second member of the rookie squad. He quickly won with a poison gas cloud that knocked out and paralyzed his opponent. He handed Shikamaru the antidote as he walked away and back to his team. Temari fought next against a very unfortunate opponent. "I have to fight the wind bitch?" Sakura cried out.

Temari gave Naruto a quick kiss on the cheek before floating down to the arena floor for her one sided fight. It stared off bad for Sakura and only got worse as Temari used her giant fan like a club and beat the pink headed girl unconscious.

Naruto was happy to see his former teammate get embarrassed like she had been. It felt good to get some measure of revenge before the finals. He greeted Temari with a hug and a whispered thank you with promise to make it up to her when they got back to their safe house.

He looked up at the board and got nervous at seeing the names on the board. Hinata vs. Kiba. "Crap. This will not end well." He whispered to his team.

It turned out to be very one sided once Kiba told Hinata to forfeit since he was her 'alpha.' Hinata gave him a few juken strikes before pinning him between one of the walls and her kaiten. It also helped that Akamaru refused to fight against Hinata.

The last two fights were quite short. Tenten drew the remaining Kiri member and, upon finding out that said fighter was a member of the new Seven Swordsmen, quickly forfeited and asked to hold the new sword. She gushed how light and flexible the sword was and yet how strongly it was created. Neji fought the last member of the Rookie squad and won with a quick Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Strikes.

Tsunade stood as he won. "Congratulations to our winners. Now then, would our finals participants, please come down to the arena floor." They all did so. "Now, last time around the finals participants were given one month. This time, you will have two weeks to prepare for your opponents."

"Why so short?" The Kiri swordsman, named Kuro, asked.

Tsunade smiled at him. "We already have the Kazekage in town; the Mizukage is on her way for treaty talks as well as the Fire Damiyo. So, we need less time to prepare then before. Now, each of you will draw numbers. That will show you who your opponent will be. We will start with Sasuke."

Sasuke grinned as he drew his number. "Seven."

Hinata drew next. "Three."

Neji grimaced as he drew his number. "Six."

Lee finished drawing for Konoha and looked excited at his. "Yosh! I drew number five! I get to fight…" Neji cut him off with a glare.

"One" Kankuro said upon drawing. Naruto held up his to show that he drew number two. "I have to fight you?" Kankuro said as he groaned.

Temari drew next before going white as a sheet. She turned to look and Hinata and Naruto. "I drew four." The small family swore quietly.

Finally the Kuro drew number eight. "Okay then. In two weeks we will have our final rounds. First match will be Kankuro against Dachi. Second match is Temari against Hinata Hyuga. Our third watch will feature Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee before our final match of Sasuke Uchiha vs. Kuro of Kiri. Good luck in your training and we will see you in two weeks." Tsunade told them.

One thing was certain, it looked to be anything but a boring finals.

**A/N: I apologize about the wait on this one. My computer kept corrupting the file before it finally just crashed on me. That, combined with writers block, summer vacation and working and I just never got around to finishing the chapter. However, as you can see, I finished this one for you guys and am already hard at work on the next.**

**In this chapter, I originally had a confrontation between Gaara and Kakashi but I deleted it because it kind of felt out of place in the chapter. I might throw that in later but, as of now, I don't think I will.**

**Now, in sad news, I am not going to continue my other story. "Return of the Prodigal Son" was nice for me since it let me get my toes wet with writing Naruto but I am just not happy with the way the story is going at the moment. I would like to come back to it at some point but I don't know when since I have two other Naruto stories in my head at the moment. One is a very adult Harem piece that I am working on and the other is a comfort type piece where Naruto is abandoned by Sakura and leaves for four years before returning. The harem is set after the end of the fourth war and the comfort piece is set in an alternate universe where peace came after the invasion of Pain.**

**Other then that, I hope you guys can forgive me for how long this one took to get out. Once again, I'm sorry.**

**Read, review and enjoy.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe. If I did, I wouldn't need to write fan fiction for it.**

**Chapter 5**

Naruto didn't know how bout the two weeks between the preliminaries and the finals went by at a blur. He spent that time making sure both Hinata and Temari were well prepared for the fight between the two of them. He smiled slightly as he remembered the conversation the three of them had shared when they returned to the family safe house.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback<em>

"This is bullshit!" Temari screamed out as she fell into the couch in their living area. "I know that they had nothing to do with the way the matches were set up but…"

"Tema-chan!" Hinata yelled at her. "Calm down and let's discuss this like the ninja that we are." Naruto nodded as he sat next to Temari before Hinata took the spot on his other side. "Now, I know it's not fair but we have to fight each other."

Temari nodded. "Your right, Hinata, but I don't want to hurt you. Fighting against me, you are at a severe disadvantage. I specialize in long range fighting but you have to get close to me to fight."

Hinata nodded. "Your right, however, we both have to put on a good show. After all, I have to make a good impression on my new Kage and you need to get promoted so we can all be on a team together until we decide to start our family."

Naruto smiled at his two girls. "So, what are we going to do then? We could, possibly, go for the middle ground between you two. I can teach you both jutsu from my father's library and you can have a ninjutsu fight. That way, Temari doesn't play to her strengths and neither does Hinata. Middle range is, quite literally, the middle ground between the both of you."

Hinata returned his smile. "We could do that. How about it, Temari?"

Temari smiled at her family. "How much can you teach us in two weeks?" She asked Naruto.

"Depends on how fast you can learn." Naruto told them with a grin.

* * *

><p>It turned out that Naruto was a natural at instructing others. He started by double checking both of their chakra affinities. He knew Temari was a wind affinity and had the feeling that Hinata was water, but he double checked just to make sure. He was right.<p>

He then showed the pair as many jutsu as they could handle. They both took to it like they had something to prove. Though no one said anything, all three knew that the winner in the fight between Naruto's wives would have bragging rights over the other.

During their off time, Naruto worked with them both over their specialties. Luckily, Hiashi had sent over juken scrolls for the Hyuga girls to study during their time in hiding. He taught both Hinata and Hanabi from those scrolls and saw something in their movements. Hanabi had an easier time then Hinata did. As an experiment, he tested Hanabi's affinity as well and noticed that she was a earth type. It made sense that she would have a much easier time then her sister since Hinata was at odds with the style due to her water affinity.

He had immediately corrected it by taking the Gentle Fist style and modifying it for Hinata. The result was a freer flowing version of the juken that could move around the battle field at a faster and easier grace then the strong based Gentle Fist but it gave up the power of the blows for more precise strikes. Hinata called it the Flowing Fist.

Temari and Naruto worked on her range attacks with her fan and, by the end of the two weeks, they had made her able to summon small tornados and guide them around the battle field.

On the day of the finals, Naruto awoke with both of his girls curled around his body. He woke both with a gentle kiss and set to work on making a large breakfast for the three of them along with Hanabi, Gaara and Kankuro. The new Hyuga heiress was going to be dropped off at the family compound when Hinata left. The Suna ninja would act as an honor guard for their Kazekage until he left at the arena to join Tsunade in the Kage box with the Hokage and the recently arrived Mizukage. "Just so you four know, you will be promoted once we return to Suna." Gaara told his ninja, and soon to be kunoichi, during breakfast. "I know Hinata is, at least, a chunin while my brother and sister are jonin and Naruto is, at least, on par with them."

"Thank you, Kazekage-sama." Hinata said with a small bow.

Gaara shook his head and raised a hand. "Hinata, we are soon to be related, slightly, but still related. Don't you think you can call me Gaara, at least in private?"

Hinata smiled and nodded. "I should get going. Hanabi? Are you ready?" The girl nodded before bowing to Gaara and his siblings and engulfing Naruto in a large hug. Hinata smiled at her as she waved. "See you all at the finals."

Naruto then stood up and prepared for the day. He would wear his brown robes of Dachi over the top of his ninja outfit he wore in Suna now. It was similar to the uniform his father wore during his time as Hokage and he combined it with Jiraiya's clothing. Where his father had worn blue pants, Naruto wore brown. He had a mesh shirt under a brown short kimono with the mesh showing out the ends of the sleeves and had a long coat of red with black flames on the bottom, a combination of his father's coat and Jiraya's cloak. His feet were in black shinobi sandals with his ankles wrapped in white bandages.

When he came out of the bedroom, Temari was waiting for him. She had on the same uniform as she had when the Sand Siblings had come to assist in the Sasuke Retrieval Mission. It was long sleeve, purple blouse with a grey top over it, a dark blue skirt with a slit on the side and a red sash around her waist. "Looking good, hot stuff." She told her soon to be husband.

"You look amazing, Tema-hime." He told her as he put his brown robes on.

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm hime now?" She gave him with a slight grin.

"Well, I had to make sure you are on the same level as Hina." He told her as he smiled.

Temari blushed slightly as they hugged. "Well then, anata." She said seductively.

"When ever you two are done?" Kankuro told them from the doorway.

The teammates left the hidden Namikaze Safe House and traveled to the Konoha Arena. They made it in good time before Gaara left them to join the Kages and the team entered into the fighters' entrance.

Upon entering the arena, Naruto took a quick look around. The group was the last to arrive except for a still missing Uchiha. Lee and Neji were talking to Hinata while Kuro sat and meditated. Naruto followed his example and meditated as well while the brother and sister duo stood and kept on watch in case any ROOT decided to try and eliminate Naruto when they had a chance.

It didn't take long until Shikamaru showed up, looking very bored at his situation at having to be the referee for the matches. "One of you is missing, troublesome." He muttered as he stood in the center of the ring. "Okay, rules are simple. You fight till one of you gives up, dies, or is unable to continue. You all know who you are fighting so, Dachi of Suna and Kankuro of Suna…"

"I forfeit!" Kankuro told Shikamaru. "There is no way in hell I can win against Dachi and I would not like to have to repair my puppets after he utterly destroys them…again."

Shikamaru gave him an apprising glance before giving one the Naruto. He nodded once before raising his voice. "Winner of the first match by forfeit, Dachi!" He cried out to the audience. There were several groans of displeasure as they hadn't been able to see the first match. "Therefore, will Hinata Hyuga and Temari of Suna remain? Everyone else may return to the competitor's box to watch the matches."

* * *

><p>"Your brother just quit?" Tsunade asked Gaara.<p>

Gaara nodded as he looked at the two female Kages. He was not surprised at all that the Mizukage had turned out to be female since he had access to Jiraiya's spy network. He had heard of a fair skin, red-headed beauty that led the rebel forces in Mizu. "The two of them spare often. The first time they did, Dachi had damaged Kankuro's puppets so bad that we were unable to take any missions outside of the village until my brother was able to repair them. It took a month."

Mei, the Mizukage looked at the hooded fighter with greater interest. "So, your brother, seeing nothing but great loss, decided to retreat rather then face an enemy he knew he could not win. That sounds like chunin material in my books." Both of the other two Kages nodded their agreement. "How strong is this Dachi?"

Gaara gave a slight smile as he gazed at the man who would soon be his brother. "I'll put it this way. I've lost to him."

Tsunade grinned as Mei gave a look of wonder at the hooded man. "Surely you were holding back?" Gaara shook his head. "Then why isn't he the Kazekage? No offense, Kazekage-sama."

"None taken. The reason being is that Dachi doesn't want the job and just recently came to Suna. He just wants to help me and to start a family."

* * *

><p>"Thank you." Naruto whispered to Kankuro as they climbed the stairs together. "I didn't want to destroy Crow and Salamander again."<p>

Kankuro just smiled at him. "I know. I didn't want you to destroy them again either. They are a pain to rebuild from scratch. Besides, this way, no one will know your abilities before the final match since you have only showed that one genjutsu in the preliminaries and neither of the girls will be able to fight after this match."

Naruto nodded as he turned his attention to the arena floor. "Both fighters ready?" Shikamaru called out.

Temari and Hinata hugged once before walking slowly opposite each other till they were several feet apart. "Ready!" They said as one.

"Begin!" Shikamaru said as he back peddled away as fast as he could.

"Water Release!" Hinata cried out as she threw a scroll onto the field. Instantly, both were standing in a large puddle of water.

"He do that?" Temari asked as she sent a glare at Naruto.

Hinata nodded. "I need water for my techniques; you have access to wind at all times. He said it was just evening the playing field. Ready?"

Temari returned the nod as she ran through hand signs. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Temari cried out as she shot a gust of wind at Hinata.

Hinata quickly dodged to the left and started forming her own hand signs. "Water Release: Water Gun!" She said as she sprayed water at a high velocity.

Temari quickly rolled as she threw another jutsu at Hinata. "Wind Release: Vacuum Cannon!"

* * *

><p>Tsunade took her eyes off the match for a moment. "Doesn't your sister specialize in using her giant fan to channel her chakra?"<p>

Gaara nodded. "Yes, but haven't you noticed something about Hinata?"

Tsunade returned the nod. "Yes, I thought for sure her plan of action would be to get inside of Temari's range and use her family's Gentle Fist style of attack."

"They both agreed to fight on an even ground so they learned from their soon to be husband as many jutsu as they could. Neither knew any of these techniques before two weeks ago." He explained.

"Future husband, don't you mean husbands?" Mei asked.

Gaara just laughed lightly and shook his head. "No, they are engaged to the same man; my other student Dachi in fact."

Mei gave a small smile. "The multiple partner law of your predecessor, huh?"

Tsunade just clenched her fist. _I swear, I am going to pound that gaki._ She thought.

* * *

><p>The match was a back and forth example of jutsu use. One would attack; the other would defend or dodge before returning the attack with one of her own. Finally, after ten minutes of jutsu exchanges, both girls looked exhausted. "Okay, last one." Hinata said as she stepped into the puddle she created earlier. "Hidden Mist Technique." She whispered before the whole arena was filled with mist.<p>

"Crap, where she go? Great Breakthrough!" Temari cried out as she tried to push the mist away but nothing happened. Suddenly, she felt her legs go numb before her arms did as well. "HEY! You cheated!" She cried out.

The mist dispersed just after she said that and showed that there was two Hinatas in front of her. "Not really, I didn't use my juken strikes. That was a water clone." The real one said as the other vanished into the puddle of water they were both in now. Immediately, she fell to her knee and smiled at her 'sister.' "How about a draw? I'm too tired to continue fighting and you can't move or fight unless I help…"

Temair nodded. "I accept."

Shikamaru appeared before both girls. "Hinata and Temari both forfeit the match. The match is a draw!"

* * *

><p>"The Hidden Mist Technique? I didn't know anyone in this village could teach that to her. It's supposed to be a secret technique of ours." Mei asked Tsunade.<p>

The elder blonde shook her head. "I don't know who taught her that but I can assure you that there is at least one in this village who could. Kakashi Hatake, better known as the Copy-Cat Ninja, fought against one of your swordsmen about a year and a half ago. Zabuza, I think the swordsman's name was. He knows the technique at least but I know he didn't teach it to her."

Gaara nodded. "I don't know where she learned it from but, if I have to guess, it was most likely from Dachi's family library."

Mei nodded. "This Dachi seems to be a very knowledgeable ninja. You said he just came to Suna recently? Was he a missing-nin before that?"

"Not that I know of. He told me his mother's village had been destroyed and they lived on the run for many years before she died." Gaara told the Kages.

Mei raised a brow at that. "He's from Uzushiogakure?"

Gaara nodded. "His mother was at least. I don't know much about his father."

Tsunade just snickered. It was close enough to the truth. "I thought that there were no more members of that village alive after what Kumo and Iwa did to Uzu."

"The survivors all fled to the four corners of the world to hide. Didn't one of your most beloved kunoichi originally come from Uzu?" Mei asked Tsunade.

Tsunade smiled a very large smile as she remembered the said kunoichi. "Yes, Kushina Uzumaki. One of Konoha's beloved and one of the finest examples of what a true kunoichi is capable of."

* * *

><p>Naruto met both of his girls as they came through the entrance from the arena. He gave them both an approving nod before grabbing them and leading them into a private room. He then began whispering softly to both of them. "Is this stupid war between the two of you over?"<p>

Both girls gave him a soft blush and looked at each other. "I didn't think you noticed. We just wanted to know who was better." Temari explained.

Hinata nodded. "We both love you but we didn't know who…"

Naruto just raised his hand to cut her off. "I love you both, equally. Just as I know both of you love me. If we are going to be a family, we can't fight between ourselves. Is that clear?" Both girls nodded before lowering their heads in slight shame. "Good, now, come here so you can both get your rewards for such a great match."

It was awhile before anyone left that room.

* * *

><p>"Will Rock Lee and Neji Hyuga please come down for the next match?" Shikamaru called out.<p>

Gaara gave the Hokage an approving nod. "This should be a good match. Both fighters are excellent in taijutsu, with the edge going to Lee. He's much stronger and faster than his teammate."

Mai just nodded. "I heard about what he was able to do to you during the preliminaries when you participated. Do you think he can fight against this Hyuga and still come out on top?"

Gaara shrugged. "I don't know. The Hyuga fighting style is designed to incapacitate their opponents. It will be a great demonstration in Konoha's taijutsu experts though; a clan known for their taijutsu against, arguably, the best taijutsu user in these exams."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Arguably? I've seen Lee do things that I have never seen anyone do. He almost wasn't able to return to active duty because of what you did but he did and was able to fight a Kaguya to a standstill. He also has that ace up his sleeve."

Gaara shuddered in response. "Don't tell me he has his 'medicine?' I would have thought you would have taken that away from him after he destroyed that bar after Naruto's banishment."

"And why would I do that? After all, it was just an accident." Tsunade said with a song to her voice.

Mei looked at her fellow female in confusion. "Medicine, is he sick?"

Gaara shuddered again as Tsunade explained. "Not exactly, well, not physically at least. I think him and his sensei might be in the head."

Shikamaru quickly called for the fight to begin before running for his life as the two chunin hopefuls clashed in the center of the ring. The resulting force was enough to cause a blowback felt around the arena. It became a back and forth between the Gentle Fist user and the Strong Fist master. "I can't believe how strong they are. They can give any chunin and some jonin a run for their money." Mei told the other Kages.

Gaara had to agree. "Yes, I don't know if there is one person in Suna besides myself and Dachi who could go head to head with either one of them." He smiled as he remembered that they both HAD gone against them one on one and won.

Tsunade was smiling as she was thinking the same thing. "Well, your special and I have yet to really see this Dachi fight. His win in the preliminaries was so short it was like a flash."

Mei just shook her head. "Kuro will have a hard time through these exams. He has to fight your Uchiha, one of these two and this wonder kid Dachi in the finals? I don't think he will make it past these guys."

"Selling your own ninja short?" Tsunade asked.

Mei shook her head again. "Not really. He is a kinjutsu user. Against your Uchiha, that is not a problem but a Hyuga and this Lee? They both will destroy him because they are even closer range and it appears much faster. Even if he does make it past them, he will be tired and have to fight Dachi who, I might remind you, has yet to fight today so he will be more then ready." She then thought about it. "What is this Dachi's area of expertise? He used a genjutsu in the preliminary rounds but no one has seen him fight since the beginning of the exams. Is he a genjutsu expert?" She asked Gaara.

The Kazekage thought about it for a few minutes. "Unfortunately, I can not tell you what his specialty is."

"Trying to keep him a mystery?" Tsunade asked. In all honesty, she was curious as to Naruto's classification."

Gaara shrugged. "Maybe, but I think it might just be because Dachi exceeds any normal classification standard. He can be a taijutsu user, a close range power house, a mid range ninjutsu, a mid range support and a long range fighter."

"You make it sound like he's a demon of some sort." Mei laughed.

_If you only knew._ Garra thought to himself. He continued to watch the fight between the two members of Team Guy. Lee landed a vicious right hook followed by a kick to the temple that sent Neji reeling. "It's over, now." He said as he motioned to the fight. Lee had activated the first five gates and began the movements for the front lotus.

As he got close, however, he ran into a sudden Kaiten from Neji, throwing the spandex clad taijutsu user across the field and into a wall. He was knocked out due to his incoming speed, the power of the Kaiten and his impact of his face meeting the wall at such high speeds. "Winner: Neji Hyuga!" Shikamaru called out.

"It's too bad Lee couldn't finish that move. It's an instant win against just about everyone." Gaara explained.

Tsunade nodded while clapping. "Yes, but the problem is that he must open the first five gates to use it. That, combined with his inability to use jutsu, makes me think he might need some more time until he is ready for chunin."

Gaara nodded. "Agree."

"Same here, I also think that this Neji of yours might need a little more in the way of attacks then reliying on his family's taijutsu." Mei explained.

Tsuande nodded. "I'm in full agreement but the problem in that lies with the Hyuga family itself. They look down on those techniques that are 'lesser' then their own. Combine that with the fact that Neji is considered an outcast due to being in the branch family and he refuses to use anything not 'Hyuga Approved.'"

Mei smiled at that and understood. "We'll see in the next round. After all, he will have to fight my Kuro after he destroys your Uchiha." She smirked.

"As much as I want to say your wrong, I kind of hope he does. Sasuke Uchiha has been a pain in my side since I took this job."

Gaara nodded. "I still think you should have let me kill him after Naruto brought him back."

Mei raised an eyebrow. "Brought him back? Who is this Naruto? Is he one of yours?"

Tsunade shook her head sadly. "Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, son of Kushina Uzumaki and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. He was our jinchuriki of the Kyubi no Kitsune. He is, in fact, the reason I took this cursed job. Sadly, after he successfully retrieved Sasuke Uchiha from being able to go to Orochimaru, he was banished by our council for trying to kill the Uchiha."

"You banished your only jinchuriki? How stupid is your council?" Mei asked confused.

Tsunade just shrugged. "I have regretted not leaving with the brat ever since. He was like the son I never was able to have." She said sadly. "And ever since, I have tried to make Sasuke's life as hard as I possible can. Gaara, if you want, I wouldn't say anything if you put a price on his head. Same goes to you to, Mei."

Gaara nodded. "When I get back, I'll discuss it with my advisors. I can't put a bounty on anyone's head without discussing my reasons why. It should be easy, though. I'll just say it's personal."

Mei looked at the Uchiha as he entered the arena to screams of delight from those in attendance. "I don't have a reason, unfortunately. If he gives me one, however…"

Shikamaru began the fight before vanishing in a rush of wind and leaves. Kuro started off the fight by using the Hidden Mist Technique, causing Mei to smile. "I knew he was the next Zabuza." She said as she watched the mist fill the bottom of the arena.

Tsunade smiled as she watched. "I hope he can defeat Sasuke. I really don't want to have to promote him if I can help it."

Gaara nodded and was going to reply when the mist began to dissipate. He looked closely and watched as it got easier to see. He was one of the first to notice that Kuro was lying at Sasuke's feet, bleeding from the side of the head. Sasuke stood calmly in the same spot that he had been in once the fight started. "How?" was the only thing he could say.

* * *

><p>Sasuke smirked as he walked away from his opponent as the medics rushed to the Kiri's side. It had been just like Danzo had told him. The Kiri ninja's first move was to hide him. And, just like Dazo told him, his allies would be there to assist him and keep him healthy so he could win, and why not? He was the last Uchiha. He deserved to win.<p>

His eyes went to the exhausted Neji. The fight between the two of them would be over quick. All he would have to do was fire several long range attacks to make him use that Kaiten of his and he would wear himself out of the fight.

He then looked at the hidden from of the Suna-nin that stole what was rightfully his. A large smirk came to his face as he ran a finger across his throat. He would kill this Dachi and take back the Hyuga whore for his own use. He would break her spirit just like he broke her loves body by driving that chidori into his chest.

He would have his revenge against Naruto and it started with Hinata Hyuga.

**A/N: There we go. One more chapter down. I'm sorry if the fight scenes are sub-par but I have never really written a tournament style before. It's a lot of hard work describing a fight. One of the reasons why the Kages are talking over the top of the Neji/Lee fight. After all, we know how that one goes…**

**Lee: "YOUTH!"**

**Neji: "Fate…blah blah blah…fate."**

**Lee: "Gate Open!"**

**Yeah, it would get real boring real quick. After all, both just use taijutsu even though Neji can manipulate chakra. So, I just showed you how it began and ended since I think this is how it might go in an actual fight between the pair. The Kaiten is a real strong defense and with Lee's speed increase it would be a dangerous ace up Neji's sleeve.**

**The fight between the girls is boring and short, I agree, but it was only a few techniques that I think the pair could learn in the two weeks between the end of the prelims and the start of the finals. Before anyone asks, yes they made out and no, they did not all have sex. Naruto has been without love for so long, I don't think his system could handle having sex just yet.**

**On the subject…Lemons? Yes? No? I'm trying to figure it out at the moment but I will let you all have some input in the matter. Just let me know and be nice about it.**

**Yes, Sasuke is a dick. I know, I've wrote him to be that way. Now you all have an idea as to WHY he wants Hinata so bad. He wants her so he can find Naruto and hurt him emotionally. After all, Naruto's strongest attribute in my mind is his ability to love after everything that he has been put through.  
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**Other then that…I guess updates might become farther and farther apart. My dumb ass decided to take English 100, Math and Speech all in one semester. My free time is almost completely gone now. I'll do what I can as fast as I can. I promise.**

**Read, review and enjoy.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto universe. If I did, I wouldn't need to write fan fiction for it.**

**A/N: Hey, look! My first negative review and flame EVER! I will address them here.**

**InARealPickle: Ah…flames, thank you for almost making me stop writing. I was so close to doing it but then I realized…you're just angry at something and taking it out on me. So, starting from your first complaint and working my way through them.**

**That was a shadow clone and he knew that they wouldn't take their gifts back but felt it was the right thing to do to attempt to return them to their rightful owners (although I think the necklace belongs to him anyways but it was, originally, Tsunade's).**

**It wasn't suspense building for the sake of building it; I was attempting to mislead the weaker minds among my readers. (No offense to anyone of my readers.) I was, really, attempting to write a story that I wanted to read. If it's not one that you would read, then by all means, stop reading. It's not hard. See that big red X in the corner? Click it.**

**I never said that economy was the reason for the miss-populated births. Remember, that Suna is in harder conditions and does not get as many missions as Konoha. I thought that, maybe the missions they get, they have a higher death rate than normal since they are less experienced. That, combined with the amount of Kunoichi we have met, made me think that there is more women than men in Suna and, hence, the marriage law. That, combined with the economy, was my reasoning since more people together in a family would mean that less income per a person is needed to support said family.**

**OnGuard: Remember that there is at least one Hyuga in ROOT and that they are not affected by the Hidden Mist trick since they can see through it. The sharingan can not since it is made of chakra. As to the three Kages missing the situation? None of them are sensor types. Tsunade would be the closest thing to it but, even then, she is a medic type. Mei, we have seen, is talented but also not a sensor and Gaara, well, Gaara is brute force. That's not saying that they don't have their suspicions, as do most of Naruto's supporters, but they don't have the proof to support their claims without resorting to the Hyugas who have a strained relationship at best with the Uchiha Clan. Thank you for the somewhat negative review and I did take it with a grain of salt. Thank you, truthfully.**

**All that being said, let's get back to our story. Last time, on Dragon Ball….wait, sorry, too much anime crossover since I'm watching old DBZ episodes since I don't like Kai at all. They took out one of my favorite things by changing the music and some scenes are just missing it entirely.**

**Anyways, back to my story.**

**Chapter 6**

Naruto glared from under his hood as Sasuke walked proudly into the contestant's box. He wanted nothing more than to bash his head in right there but he knew he would get his chance. Neji was still worn out from his fight with his teammate and probably stood little chance of beating Sasuke. That didn't mean he couldn't hurt him, though.

Hinata glared at him as well as she had been one of the few who saw what happened. "Those ANBU beat Kuro, not him." She whispered to her small family unit. "They snuck in underground during the mist and beat him senseless. Sasuke just stood there."

Naruto nodded as Temari grasped her fan tightly. "He will need to be taken down." She growled out. "Maybe fix things so that he is completely useless to Konoha."

Hinata gave a small giggle at that. "Apparently, you don't have to worry about that." Naruto and Temari both looked at her. "Remember during the prelims when Ino came in? Well, she told Tenten the reason she was so happy and giggly and I just happened to overhear as well."

She quickly looked around before leaning in. "Sasuke can't get his _equipment_ to work." She said in a whisper.

Temari raised an eyebrow at that while Naruto began to silently laugh. "He's impotent?"

Hinata shrugged. "Apparently Sakura had tried her hardest to make it work when they were camped out in the forest those few nights and I guess it never responded except for once. That time was when Sakura got him hard but he blew his lid before they could go the distance."

Naruto was visibly shaking now while trying to contain his laughter. Temari, however, couldn't breathe she was laughing so hard. "So…he's useless?"

Hinata shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. I know he's smaller then some." She went red in the face at that.

Temari stopped laughing and gave her a sly grin. "Why, Hinata, I didn't think you had it in you to be perverted."

"I didn't mean to. I wanted to see…" She meeped at that as she realized all of the sudden who was standing between her and the blonde princess from Suna.

Temari just smiled at her. "You wanted to see Naruto?" Hinata nodded. "And Sasuke just happened to get in the way?" Again, she nodded. "Fine then, but how does he and, since were on the subject, Naruto stand up, well Sasuke's case is lay I guess, against the others in your class?"

Hinata blushed again so her face resembled a cherry. "Well, Sasuke was the smallest of the class by about an inch. Naruto…he's one of the largest."

Temari raised an eyebrow again. "How big is he?"

Naruto just shook his head before cutting off their conversation with a wave of his hand. He leaned in to Temari's ear. "You'll find out. Now, stop embarrassing Hinata."

Hinata smiled over Naruto's shoulder at Temari and raised her hands about a foot apart from each other. Temari caught the reference and winked as Naruto straightened up.

Naruto noticed that Neji didn't look too good. "Hina-hime, give one of these chakra pills to your cousin." He told her as he handed her a brilliant orange food pill.

She looked at it confused while Temari just smiled at Naruto. "Risky, letting one of those out of your possession in a semi-hostile location. Aren't you afraid that someone might get their hands on those things and try to copy them?" The wind mistress asked.

Naruto shook his hooded head. "No, because they can't copy the pill without me or another jinchuriki."

"What is it?" Hinata asked.

Naruto smiled at her. "Go give it to Neji. I'll tell you when you get back because he will ask you what it is. Tell him it's a modified food pill. It's true enough."

Hinata nodded and quickly filled her roll. Neji gave her a raised eyebrow when she told him to take it. He refused until she told him it was from Dachi. He smiled at the hooded form of Dachi before swallowing the pill quickly and thanking Hinata. She returned to her new small family and nodded to Naruto.

Together, the three watched as Neji walked out of the competitor's box followed shortly after by Sasuke. "This should be interesting. The two famed dojutsus against each other, sharingan vs. byakugan." Temari said as they watched the so called 'geniuses' enter the arena for their match.

"Now can you tell me what that pill was?" Hinata asked.

Naruto nodded and whispered to her. Her eyes went wide at the realization at what she had just given the man she thought of as a brother. A wicked smile played across all three of their mouths as they watched the bruises and marks on Neji fade as he walked calmly to the center of the arena.

* * *

><p>"The sharingan vs. the byakugan. Finally we get to see who is stronger." Tsunade said to her companions. "I'm personally rooting for Neji but I think that might have to do with the fact that I'm a Senju."<p>

Gaara nodded next to her. "I am, as well, rooting for the Hyuga due to personal reasons as the Uchiha is the reason I haven't been able to see my friend in over a year now."

Mei smiled at both of them. "Well, he'll get no love from me. I have a distinct feeling that he cheated in his win over Kuro but I can't prove it due to the Hidden Mist."

Tsunade nodded as well as she watched the two fighters get into their respective family's taijutsu stances; Neji into the advanced stance of the Gentle Fist and Sasuke into his family's Intercepting Fist style. "This will be good. The Gentle Fist is a focused attack style while the Intercepting Fist counters the attacks of an opponent."

Shikamaru called for the fight to begin and the two fighters began their strategies. Sasuke started by backing away and launching large gout of flame at Neji. As expected, Neji countered with his Kaiten. "Good strategy on his part. Wear out Neji until he can finish him off. Sasuke is most assuredly in better condition after their respective fights…well, Neji fought." Gaara explained as Neji countered a wave of kunai with another Kaiten, this one slower and smaller than the others.

Mei nodded. "It looks as if this fight will be short lived."

Sure enough, it lasted one more fire attack from Sasuke…but Gaara felt a pulse of chakra from Kyubi. The problem was that it wasn't from Naruto. It was from Neji. "Oh, don't count him out yet. It seems that he received a little gift during the break."

Tsunade gave him a look before her vision moved to the arena. In the center of the arena, there was a flash of light before Neji stood calm and collected, not looking anywhere near exhausted from his bout with Lee. "What was that?"

"A new restore pill we developed in Suna. My team must have given him one to even out the playing field since Sasuke was relatively fresh. I can't tell you how we developed it but it slowly heals all wounds on the user before rapidly filling the user's chakra reserves. We developed it to catch our enemies off guard since they wouldn't expect a beaten and worn out ninja to suddenly be in perfect condition…for a short period of time." Gaara explained.

"How short?" Mei asked.

Gaara shrugged. "Our longest test study was three hours…but he was a rare case. Average on a normal ninja would be around three to five minutes. After that, it's a case of chakra exhaustion."

Tsunade raised a brow. "How severe a case, are we talking a normal case or Kakashi and Naruto severe?"

Gaara gave her a soft smile. "About a medium level, out for two days and limited for one more."

Tsunade was shocked. These pills could be used in case of emergency to get their forces off the front lines and back to a support staff in worse case scenarios. "Can you give us this recipie?"

Gaara shook his head. "Unfortunately, you got rid of the one way you could create these." He told her.

Tsunade instantly realized how they worked the way they do. "You didn't?" Gaara nodded. "You finally made it? You used her notes and finished the pill!"

Mei raised a brow at that. "Whose notes?"

"Kushina Uzumaki."

* * *

><p>Neji felt amazing. That pill that Naruto gave Hinata to give to him made him feel like his fight with Lee didn't exist. "I must thank him." He told himself before rushing in to close range against Sasuke. The two fighters exchanged blows with neither really gaining a foothold against the other. Neji was gaining an upper hand due to the fact that his attacks cut off chakra points in Sasuke's arms but the Uchiha was giving it as well as he took. Both separated after a short fullry of attacks and were breathing heavy.<p>

Sasuke couldn't feel his right hand and his left leg felt a little sluggish. Neji was supporting a bruise on the left side of his face and held his right hand to his chest due to a heavy blow. "It seems we are at an impass, Uchiha." Neji said softly.

"I was going easy on you. I hadn't even activated my sharingan." Sasuke said with a snide smile before activating his dojutsu and attacking again.

* * *

><p>The fight continued for another three minutes before Neji faltered. "It's over." Gaara told the Kage's in the box. As soon as he said it, Neji collapsed in a heap but didn't look like he was too badly injured. Sasuke rushed in to finish him off but Shikamaru stopped his shadow while the medics took Neji away. "It was a great match, but, unfortunately, there was a time limit on how long he could go for."<p>

Mei nodded in amazement as she whispered to one of her bodyguards. Tsunade took that time to lean over to Gaara. "Should we tell her?"

Gaara shook his head. "She never met him that I know of at least. Either way, do you want to tell the public before hand or just surprise them?"

"Let's surprise them." She stood. "There will be a short five minute rest period for Sasuke before we start the final match. Will Dachi of Suna please make his way to the arena floor?"

* * *

><p>Naruto grinned from under his hood and scarf. "This is it. Is Kankuro in position?" He asked Temari.<p>

She nodded. "He's on the roof with three of his puppets playing the role of members of the Suna council. They are seated right next to his puppets."

Naruto smiled and gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Take care of yourselves. I don't know how bad this is going to turn out when I reveal who I am." He told her before moving to Hinata and repeating what he did and told Temari. "Don't worry about me. I have a few tricks up my sleeve for him."

He quickly made his way to the arena floor by appearing in a rush of wind and electricity. "Ready." He growled out.

Sasuke scowled at his opponent. He knew the basic shunshin and the leaf shushin but he had never seen someone combine two elements. _Before I kill him, I will have him tell me how he learned to do that._ He smirked at his hooded opponent.

Shikamaru nodded as he looked up at the Kage's booth. Receiving a nod from Tsunade he cleared his throat. "We will now begin the finals of these Chunin Exams, Sasuke Uchiha, representing Konoha versus Dachi of the Flowing Sands representing Suna. Both fighters are ready so…BEGIN!"

Sasuke started the fight with a blast of dust as he moved at high speeds to close in on Naruto. As he did, Sasuke threw a punch at his face. Naruto bent backwards at the waist and watched as Sasuke flew over the top. He quickly straightened up and caught another punch before forcing Sasuke to break off as he swung a heavy roundhouse kick at his legs.

Sasuke ran through a quick series of hand signs before launching multiple fire balls at him. Naruto countered by placing a wall of water between him and the incoming fire. A few shirkens followed and he just caught them before returning fire.

Sasuke ducked his return fire before stopping the attacks and falling into his family's taijutsu style again. "Impressive, not many can keep up with me. However, I was going easy."

Naruto just shook his head as he stood back up with his hands in his sleeves. He quickly formed the hand seals for an illusion gnejutsu he had learned from Kyubi but Sasuke intercepted him by throwing several kunai and forcing a retreat. Naruto quickly fell into a relaxed taijutsu stance that was reliant on a strong defense.

"DACHI!" He heard cried out from the Kage box. Turning his head he saw Gaara standing up. "It's time." was all he said before sitting back down in his seat.

Naruto nodded as he turned to look at his opponent. Shikamaru looked at Dachi and let his mind race through situations. "Time? Are you invading again?" He asked seriously.

Naruto just grinned as he reached under his hood and removed the black scarf with his former Konoha forehead protector stitched into it. "Really, Shika, you think I would lead an invasion force into my former home?" He said in his normal voice as he threw the scarf between himself and Sasuke. Both looked at it in wonder as Shikamaru quickly started running through situations at seeing a konoha forehead protector on the scarf.

One thought over took everything else. _Former home? Naruto?_

Tsunade stood up in the box and addressed the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say a few words before letting this contest continue. You see, Dachi is not this young man's true name. In fact, many of you know him. I would like to introduce the true man under the hood."

Shikamaru and Sasuke stared in disbelief as Naruto removed his hood. "NARUTO!" They both gasped.

* * *

><p>"Naruto?" Ino questioned from her seat next to her team and the other teams. "What is going on?"<p>

Asuma took a drag from his cigarette as he watched. "Looks like after he was banished from here, he went ahead and moved himself to Suna and was instated as a genin over there. This could end bad."

Kurenai nodded in wonder. "Naruto has a kill on sight order for him. We might need to step in."

* * *

><p>In the elder box, the Konoha elders were fuming. "How dare that demon show his face here again after we banished him?" Homura sneered.<p>

One of the Suna elders gave a sly smile. "Why not? He's one of our best ninja." The elder said from behind his mask.

"How could you let that demon exist? We should break off all relations with you since you allowed an enemy of our village into your own!" The male elder demanded.

Another one of the Suna elders shook his head. "You have no authority over who we allow into our village and, as for the Kyubi, our own Kazekage is a jinchuriki as well. Now we have the force of two of the demons while your own village has no counter in case Kumo or Iwa attack you with their own."

At this the Konoha elders seethed quietly while all three of the Suna elders just remained quiet.

At that moment, a cloud if purple haze filled the box. Kankuro, sitting on the roof just above them, smiled as he watched the two elders scramble away before fainting from the poison cloud. "Mission complete." He whispered as he recalled his puppets to his side and hurried along the roof to Gaara.

* * *

><p>Naruto smirked as he removed the brown robes to show his new look. "Good to see you again, Shika." He laughed softly.<p>

Shikamaru just shook his head. "Naruto, always making my life troublesome."

Sasuke, in the mean time was silently fuming. Here he was, the source of his anger and rage, after his own brother, and it made him just slightly afraid since Naruto had won their last match. "Dobe, I'm going to kill you this time."

Naruto just shook his head. "Just wait, teme, Tsunade-baa-chan has something else to say." He made a motion with his hand and the Hokage nodded.

"Now that Suna's member has been revealed, I have to tell you his name. You see, his name might make many of you regret his banishment. I present to you, Konoha and distinguished guests, Naruto Uzumaki NAMIKAZE!"

Sasuke and everyone else were caught in total surprise. The bane of Konoha, the Demon in Human Flesh, was really the missing son of the Yondaime Hokage. "It's a lie." Sasuke hissed.

Naruto shrugged before flipping a kunai at Sasuke. "Catch." was all he said.

Tsunade smiled down at the arena. "Continue the match!" She called out.

Sasuke caught the Kunai at that moment and noticed that it was three pronged with some sort of writing on the hilt. He looked at Naruto and caught a bright flash of light before he felt the impact of a super powered punch on his face.

The arena went dead silent at seeing the former dead last use the move that made his father famous. "I'll take that back now." Naruto smirked as he threw another punch into Sasuke's gut and then side kicked him in the stomach.

Sasuke fell to the ground as Naruto retreated slowly he smiled at his two girls at their location before watching as Sasuke stood again. "What's wrong, teme, can't take a punch anymore?"

Sasuke spat out a bit of blood before flashing through hand signs for his signature maneuver. "Chidori!" He cried out as he charged at Naruto.

The blonde just shrugged and held his hand out as Sasuke charged him. He made no attempt to defend himself and smiled as Sasuke aimed for his heart. His hand never made contact.

There was another flash of light and Sasuke found himself flying trough Naruto's location. Naruto stood near where Sasuke had started from and was grinning. "Enough, dobe, stand still so I can kill you and take Hinata from your dead corpse. Maybe I'll save your life and force you to serve me for all time while your love is my slave? Does that sound…"

Sasuke was cut off as he felt something he hadn't felt in some time. A large amount of killing intent, so strong and solely focused on him that he nearly wet himself, swept over him. He turned and looked at Naruto. The blonde…

Was no longer solely blonde. His hair had gained red-orange streaks growing from root to tip. His hair also grew substantially longer then his short spikes and made him look even more like his father. Their eyes met and Sasuke flinched at the contact. They were no longer the blue orbs filled with kindness and sadness at seeing his former friend again. Now they were red, angry, and filled with rage at the thought of another man touching the woman who held part of his heart. "Teme, you have no idea what you just did, do you? You see, I couldn't do this the last time we fought." Naruto told the Uchiha.

Sasuke stared in wonder as the red chakra flowed around Naruto's body. _It's that damn cloak of his again. I can't resort to taijutsu anymore or I'll end up burning myself on the Kyubi's chakra._ However, that wasn't the end. Naruto's body changed as well.

Rather than the deep red cloak forming a tail of chakra, Naruto himself developed a tail of golden yellow with a red-orange tip. His ears also formed into those of a fox that matched his hair and tail. A second tail formed not long after the first. "You see, Kyubi and I have an understanding now. He helps me and I help him. I get stronger and, in return, I am tasked by him to rid the world of three people."

Sasuke backed up, unconsciously, as he felt the power radiate off of his former rival. "Three people?" He asked without thinking.

Naruto nodded as he slowly walked towards Sasuke. "Yes, three. One of them is the man who forced him to attack Konoha in the first place. He placed Kyubi under a genjutsu that made him think that members of Konoha attacked and murdered his small family. That was the reasoning behind the Kyubi attack that cursed my existence during my time in this village. Perhaps you would like to know his name?"

Sasuke felt his superior attitude returning. "Why would I care about it?"

Naruto's smirk made the whole arena flinch. "The man was Madera Uchiha, the man who formed your clan."

"But he's dead. He's been dead. You are liying!" Sasuke screeched.

Naruto just shook his head. "Whatever you want to believe, teme. The second person is you. He wants to rid the world of your clan since he was the one who gave you your eyes and you lacked the understanding of how to use them. They were not meant to steal the jutsu of your fellow villagers. They were meant for you to gain an upper hand against enemies. You, and your former clan, lacked the complete desire that was to defend your home. During the Kyubi's attack on Konoha, how many of your clan assisted in the defense? None. During the Third Shinobi War, how many sacrificed their lives? Very few since they were part of the Konoha Police Force and thus stayed in the village. Like it or not, the clan line will end with you."

Naruto smirked as he removed a scroll from his belt. "As for the third person, well, that has already been taken care of." He threw the scroll to Sasuke. "Go ahead, open it."

Sasuke quickly opened it to find that it was a human sealing scroll. He forced his chakra into it before throwing it to the ground. It was instantly covered in a puff of white smoke before a body was seen laying face up.

The body was a man with long black hair, he had pale skin and his clothes were torn and bloody. A hush fell across the stadium as they took in the former man. His black cloak was ripped but there were red clouds on it and everyone there knew who it was that was now laying dead before them. "Itcahi!" Sasuke screamed out as he fell to his knees.

* * *

><p>"It's not Itachi." Hinata whispered to Temari with her byakugan activated.<p>

The blonde just nodded. "I know. He is trying to get into Sasuke's head and it appears to have worked."

"I know the Hyugas know but do you think everyone else buys it?"

Temari just shrugged. "All that matters right now is that Sasuke thinks that it's true. Now, come on. We need to be in place in case ROOT decides to use the diversion as an opportunity to attack Naruto-kun."

* * *

><p>Kakashi just shook his head from his seat next to Asuma and Gai. "It's a shadow clone henged into looking like Itachi." He stated emotionlessly.<p>

Asuma nodded while all of the genin looked at him confused. "What do you mean?" Ino asked as she returned her gaze to the battlefield to watch what happens.

"Naruto is playing mind games at the moment. He henged a shadow clone of his to imitate Itachi's dead body to make Sasuke think of nothing else but to kill Naruto. That way, Naruto can formulate strategies that he needs to defeat him while Sasuke won't be thinking of anything but revenge on Naruto for ruining his own. It's quite the bold strategy since, doing that, he will most likely make Sasuke use his curse seal. However, with the control he is demonstrating with the Kyubi's chakra, one that Naruto won't have a problem with." Asuma told her.

"Look, Temari and Hinata are moving!" Lee called out from his seat on the far end of the bench.

Kurenai nodded. "They are most likely getting set up in case someone, or several someone, decides to try and attack Naruto. The question becomes, what do we do if that does happen? Technically, he's an enemy of Konoha and should be killed on sight."

Everyone remained quiet as they thought about it as well. Go against their friend or fight against their village. "To quote someone we all know…troublesome." Tenten muttered as she crossed her arms and waited for the fight to resume.

* * *

><p>Naruto watched as Sasuke's emotions went from destroyed to non-existant in the flash of an eye. "Do it, teme, let this be our last rematch." He said as he fell into a new taijutsu stance. He held his arms close to his chest and with his fists poited directly at Sasuke. His legs were spread so he had balance in case of whichever angle Sasuke would come at him.<p>

Sasuke roared with anger as he unleashed the power of the cursed seal against Naruto. He immediately transformed into his stage two form and attacked Naruto relentlessly. Naruto just batted the attacks aside as he backed up from the force. "I will kill you, Uzumaki!"

Naruto just grinned as he flashed halfway across the arena to his original starting location. "The name is Naruto Namizkaze now. Do it, Uchiha, let us use the attacks we are now known for." He told him as he charged up a Rasengan. Unlike before, this rasengan glowed a bright white and was laced with currents of lighting.

Sasuke flashed through the hand seals needed for his Chidori and both opponents attacked each other at the same time. There was an explosion of dust and debris that hit the barrier surrounding the arena from any wayward attacks. As the dust settled everyone saw Sasuke lying on the ground panting while Naruto stood confident and untouched. "Get up." Was all he said.

At that moment, the arena was filled with shinobi in ANBU gear. Each had a mask and the word Ne on the forehead. "Naruto Uzumaki, you are a missing-nin with a kill on sight order. Prepare to die."

Naruto just laughed lightly as he grew another tail. "I'm not scared of Danzo's pawns. But I think you should be of me." He growled out as he hunched over to all fours as he grew his fourth tail. "Pray that I don't reach nine." He snickered.

At that moment, Temari and Hinata appeared at their fiancée's side. "You will not harm Naruto-kun." Hinata told them as she fell into her Flowing Fist stance. Temari nodded as she opened her fan up and revealed all three stars.

The ROOT ninja all appeared ready to attack before a rush of sand appeared to form Gaara and Kankuro. "I will not sit by and watch one of my ninja be attacked. You fight all of us." Gaara sneered as he removed his Kazekage's robes. Kankuro unleashed Crow and took a stance next to his sister.

"Dynamic Entry!" Two voices shouted as Gai and Lee both made their presence known by kicking a ROOT nin each in the face. "We shall show you that Naruto's powers of youth rival all of your own. We fight with our friend." Lee told them.

"As do we." Ino told them as Team Asuma flanked the Suna team.

"As do we all." Kurenai told the ROOT operatives as her team and Tenten joined the now opposing force of the Konoha and Suna teams.

There was a brief moment of time where the ROOT nin were caught off guard but that lasted one more moment before they were completely caught by surprise. "Yo." Kakashi told them as he appeared by his former student's side.

Naruto's face let off a foxy grin. "Your late, Kakashi-sensei."

"Well, there was this old lady…"

"Whatever. You with us?" Naruto asked his former sensei.

Kakashi's answer was cut off as three more joined them. "What do you think we are all here for, gaki?" Tsunade told him as she, Jiraiya and Shizune joined them all.

"You are all so troublesome. I guess we call this match over?" Shikamaru asked as he joined his team.

"You guessed right. Now, the war on ROOT begins." Jiraiya told him as he rolled his head, loosening his neck muscles.

The battle lines were drawn and the fight was just beginning.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ah that felt good to finish. I promise, this isn't the end of the fight with Sasuke. He will be back in the next chapter. A little roughed up but the fight will continue.**

**The elders…well, use your imagination for that one. Yes they are poisoned, but they might still survive if they can get treated for the poison quick enough. Danzo was not there with them as he was setting this attack up.**

**I'm working on a new fic where Naruto learns of the Kyubi at a younger age and becomes his heir. I plan on having that out sometime this weekend depending on how much I can get done. I must ask all of you to check out "Naruto the Silver Fox" by swords of twilight as I am using an idea that he/she came up with.**

**Read, review and enjoy.**


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